The Mansion Where It Happens
by PJOandHP4Life
Summary: Hamilton was a journalist for the NY Times with a sweet son and nice friends. Sure, he also had some enemies, but his life was pretty good. Then the storm came. He took shelter in a presumably empty mansion. It's just a wonderful coincidence that all of his friends and son are there. It's less wonderful that his enemies are there too. Then someone had to go and die. (Ch.8 edited!)
1. Everything Seems Normal, for Now

**Hello! I have written another story! I actually had the patience to start the exposition. Then I had the burst of energy and was like, "You know what? I'm going to finish the exposition today!" My brain just looked at me as if I was stupid. I'm not stupid. Anyway...here you go! The action will pick up eventually and there will be some ships in this, but not yet. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda does.**

* * *

(A. Ham POV)

 **To MySon!:** _Hey Pip! I hope you enjoy your first day of junior year at your new high school. Text me when you can okay?_

I gripped the pole above me tightly as the subway jolted during a sharp turn.

The jolt caused me to spill my black coffee, thankfully not on myself, but onto a businesswoman standing nearby.

"Ah!"

She jumped back at the sudden hot liquid seeping into her white blouse.

After recovering from the shock, she looked up from the stain to glare at me.

Her dark brown eyes were frightening, it was like they were staring into my soul, a window to all the horrible acts she was capable of doing to me and was probably going to pursue.

"Be more careful when holding a drink buddy! This is a brand new shirt you know!"

I quickly tried to apologize and make sure I would get out of this predicament quickly.

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to I swear! I just was texting my son on my phone and I guess I wasn't holding my coffee properly. Then the jolt just came out of nowhere! What can I do to repay you?"

This only seemed to irritate her, but at least she wasn't as mad as before.

"This shirt," she paused to gesture at her ruined blouse, "is probably worth more than 3 of your plaid shirts combined." I looked down sheepishly at my shirt to see that it was wrinkled and had a faint stain on it. "So I don't think you can repay me anything, mister. Just...forget it."

She turned back around and then proceeded to ignore me.

Now I was getting mad. I know it was my fault, but it was an accident! I have a pride problem as most people that know me have said on multiple occasions. So when she practically called me poor, I wasn't about to just let that go.

"Well, I'm sorry but I can't predict the future. And it isn't that big of a deal, you probably have a million white shirt being as you're so rich."

She became stiff as I talked, probably expected me to have no backbone. Well, guess what lady? You're dealing with Alexander Hamilton. And he never backs down to a fight, especially one with words.

So I, of course, wasn't done yet. Oh no. I had only begun.

"What? Are you too 'high and mighty' to speak down to 'peasants' like me? I bet you don't even have a good-paying job that you actually earned. Probably just fluttered your eyes at the employer and bam! You're the boss' new secretary."

That seemed to be the last straw, as she whipped back around to face me. She was practically seething now, she made the coffee look cold.

"Excuse you, but I'm actually a lawyer. And I have to go to court today! So if you would please shut your mouth and think before you lash out at someone for your mistake! God, I knew I shouldn't have taken the subway today. The bus would have been much better than this, even if I had to deal with the potholes."

Before I could even think of a rebuttal, she was walking off the bus muttering something about annoying hobbits.

I blushed, fuming in anger and slight embarrassment as most of the people on the subway now are staring at me.

 _Ping!_

I looked down at my temporarily forgotten phone to see Philip had texted me back.

 **From MySon!:** _Hey dad! School is alright so far. I have sooo many classes. And my legs are killing me from all of the walking. The steps dad. The steps!_

I smiled, letting a soft laugh escape my lips. My sour mood immediately dissipating as I read my son's text. He always knew how to make me smile.

Just as I was about to text him back, the subway came to a stop.

The automatic doors opened as the sign above flashed

 **TIME SQUARE 42 ST**

I grabbed my computer bag and what was left of my coffee as I went to the closest door.

I threw my empty coffee styrofoam cup in the nearest trash can as I made my way through the crowd onto the subway platform.

As I walked off the subway train and made my way towards the stairs, I noticed one of those gang people that spray paint on things committing vandalism...what was the word…. I knew I wrote an article on them before complaining to the security system….

Ah yes, graffiti artists.

I expected the art to be some gang sign or something, but I instead saw it was an image made up of intricate patterns.

The green swirled into beautiful patterns on a sea turtle. The image was so lifelike, the eyes a window into its soul. The blue swirled around it forming beautiful ocean waves with hidden fish swimming inside.

It was mesmerizing.

I was so awestruck by the art that I didn't realize that the guy had stopped painting to look at me.

I scratched the back of my head as I felt his gaze burn holes into the side of my head.

"Um, I like your work. Did you take an art class or something?"

He just tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, still staring at me.

He had nice green amber eyes, similar to the turtle he drew.

Things progressively became more awkward the longer he stared at me and I avoided his gaze.

Eventually, I looked at my watch to see how long we have been standing in these positions when I saw that it was a quarter to 8.

 _Shit._

"Oh, crap. I'm going to be late! I cannot let Burr have something else to use against me for the boss' favor."

I readjusted my bag full of unfinished articles and my laptop as I rushed to the stairs.

I quickly turned around to say bye to the guy, but he was no longer there.

 _Hmm, odd. Oh well._

I continued walking towards the New York Times building almost getting hit by cars a few times in my rush. I walked, or more like ran, up to the elevator. "Wait for me! Please hold it open!" I yelled and was able to get in just before it closed.

I rushed in past a man that graciously held the door open.

"Thanks."

"Your welcome Mr. Hamilton."

I looked up at that voice.

"Ah, Mr. Burr, sir!"

His emotionless face grimaced slightly at my play on his name.

"Please Hamilton, I have asked you not to call me that too many times to count."

I chuckled at him. He must have gotten his hair cut recently to be neat and short. His attire was, as usual, a white dress shirt and a burgundy formal jacket. He had on his designer dress pants and slightly heeled black dress shoes.

 _He always liked to dress to impress._

"Aw, Burr, baby! You know I'm just messing with you!"I saw him take a deep breath closing his eyes mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like a death curse on my soul, but what do I know.

"So, how was your morning commute? Mine was absolutely terrible. This woman had the nerve to sass me! And I'm practically the king of sass! I did accidentally spill my coffee on her, but then she blew up at me as if I just dropped an entire bucket of ice on her head! You know what? Maybe I should do an article on the subway. I mean there are quite a few issues that need to be resolved. I also saw this odd graffiti artist. He was pretty good, even though he was committing vandalism. He was a little creepy, but also kinda c—"

He opened his eyes once more with a deep inhale and stepped off the elevator as it arrived at his floor with a sigh of relief.

"Bye Hamilton. And here's some advice."

"—but before I could even hold a conversation with him he...wait did you say something Burr, sir?"

"Talk less, smile more."

I looked at him with confusion evident on my face.

"What do you me—"

The doors closed as the elevator went up taking me away from Burr. 

* * *

(Angelica POV)

 _Ugh, this is not a great start to my day._

I searched in my purse for a tissue as I walked towards up the stairs to the courthouse.

I tried in vain to dab out the coffee, but the stain only spread.

"Ah, curse you, black coffee."

 _I'm just glad none of it got on my dress pants._

I put on my shades as I came up into the sunlight and wrapped by blazer around myself to try and look professional.

"Oh, why did my car have to be in the shop today? I am not looking forward to dealing with the stain on my shirt throughout the day. At least it's warm today so the coffee will evaporate some."

I walked down the crowded sidewalks with my heels clicking with every confident step. There weren't many people walking today, or maybe it just seemed like that because the crowd parted as I strode by. My air of confidence sending others scurrying back to avoid getting on my bad side.

I had perfected the technique of giving off such an air that even the worst terrorists would avert his eyes and shift nervously with fear if I so much as glanced in his direction. I guess that happens when you've been a lawyer for almost 15 years.

After walking to the court building, I now sat at my desk doing all I could to get the stain out of my shirt.

 _Ping!_

I looked at my phone to see that my sister sent me a text.

 **From MotherHen:** _Hey sis! How was your morning? Good luck with the case!_

I smiled at her caring nature, she was always the one to try and take care of me, even though I'm the oldest. I always was the overprotective one, but she was the caring mother hen (hence her nickname).

 **To MotherHen:** _Hey Liz. My morning wasn't that great. This idiot spilled coffee on me. Hope the kids are treating you nicely._

 _*Knock* *Knock*_

I looked up from my phone and smiled as my partner in crime ( _not literally 'cause duh, we're lawyers_ ) walked in with coffee in hand.

He had tan skin with wavy, styled, hazel brown hair, that I know he made a huge effort to keep that way. He was sporting a tailor-fitted, ash gray suit and a flirtatious smile that he usually greeted me with daily.

"Hey, Angie—"

"For the last time John, my name is Angelica! A, N, G, E, L, I, C, A! Not Angie, or Ang', and most definitely not Angel."

He just smiled and walked over to me, setting the coffee down on the table.

"Of course, Angel." He said with a smirk as he pecked my cheek before swiftly evading my fist.

"I hate you…" I grumbled as I leaned back in my office chair.

"I brought coffee."

"...are a wonderful human being, that I will forever cherish."

He laughed at my sudden change of attitude as I cradled the reviving drink to my chest, careful not to have any more spill on my already ruined blouse.

"I see. All I have to do is buy your coffee, then you will be satisfied?"

I looked up at him from my drink taking a long good sip of the creamy goodness.

"I will never be satisfied," I said with a wink before setting my cup down on my desk.

John laughed again before sitting at one of the seats in front of my desk.

"So, how has your day been Ang?"

I sighed as I looked down at my ruined blouse thinking of the sour start to my day.

"Not so good."

He frowned at my answer and the fact that I didn't correct him about my name.

He followed my eyes and saw my ruined blouse.

"Yikes, what happened Angelica?"

He must actually be concerned if he said my name right.

Either that or he can sense that I'm already in a bad mood.

"Well, this idiot on the subway spilled his scorching hot black coffee all over me. So now my new white blouse is ruined."

His frown deepened at this revelation.

"Really? Do I need to fight him for you?"

He said playfully, or at least I hope it was playful, he punched his left hand in a threatening manner.

I smiled at this but shook my head.

"No, I think I handled it pretty well, it was an accident anyway I suppose."

John didn't look very convinced but relaxed his posture.

"Okay... but what are you going to do for the case today?"

I sighed at the reminder of possibly one of the most important cases of my career being in less that one hour.

"I don't know. I guess I'll just button my blazer and pray no one important notices the stain."

He frowned in thought for a moment before leaving my office.

"Well, bye?"

 _I guess he remembered something urgent for the case._

I was reading through some papers of evidence for the case when John rushed back into my office.

He practically crashed into my desk in his hurry.

"John! Are you okay? You should really slow down before you're seriously hurt yourself and will be unable to help with the case."

He pushed himself back up into a standing position before plopping down into a chair trying to catch his breath.

"I'm _*pant*_ fine _*pant*_ I just _*pant*_ needed to _*pant*_ get something."

I leaned towards him handing him some water I bought from the cafeteria.

"Thanks," he said before quickly gulping down at least a third of the bottle.

He wipes his chin hastily and tried to gather his thoughts.

"So, why did you run in here?"

His eyes flew open and he made a rush to pat his pockets before making a noise of relief as he took a white cloth or something of the like out of his pocket.

"Here."

He set the cloth on the table in front of me.

"Uh, thanks for the cloth?"

He tilted his head at my response before the slight confusion left his eyes.

"No, no unfold it."

I did as he asked to see it was not a cloth but a white dress shirt, my old white dress shirt.

"John! Thank you so much! Where did you find it? I have been looking for this everywhere!"

He blushed slightly at my gratitude.

But then I frowned and eyed him warily.

"Wait, how did you find it?"

His blush deepened as he rubbed the back of his neck like he usually does when he's nervous.

"Well, you sort left it at my place."

At this, I blanched giving him a disbelieving look.

"What do you mean I left it at your place?"

He frowned for a moment before he turned as red as a cherry at my implication.

"Oh no! Not, not like that! I meant when we were, you know, together…."

At this, I relaxed a little although now I felt a little awkward as well.

"Oh, uh, yeah of course. Well, uh, thanks, John." I said as a light blush spread across my cheeks.

"No problem Angie," he said with a small smile.

I smiled back slightly decided to let him call me Angie since I could tell he was just trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, I should probably change now before the case."

"Okay. I should probably get back to my office and look over some documents."

I walked with him towards the door and he turned around to say bye, giving me a one-armed hug.

"See ya later Angel…." I gave him a look.

"...ica."

I chuckled at his poor save and lightly shoved him out the door.

"Bye Mr. John Church."

He had started walking down the hall before swiftly turning around to glare at me.

"I told you not to call me that! It makes me feel old!"

"Well, now you know how I feel!"

"Yeah well, shut up."

He turned back around walking to his office.

I laughed softly as I watched him walk away before walking to the bathroom to change my clothes.

* * *

(Eliza POV)

 **From SheWillNeverBeSatisfied:** _Hey Liz. My morning wasn't that great. This idiot spilled coffee on me. Hope the kids are treating you nicely._

I smiled lightly about to respond when the bell rings.

Before I could dismiss them at least half my class jumped up at once and started yelling, I mean talking, to each other ready to rush out the door.

"Wait!"

Everyone stopped immediately at my voice and sat back down.

Perks of being the teacher that gives out candy I suppose.

"Before you leave remember to check google classroom for your homework! It won't be much, but it will have to do with the founding fathers—"

"ALEXANDER HAMILTON!"

Some students yelled this then the class broke into laughter.

I smiled, ever since Lin-Manuel Miranda made a soundtrack this has happened more often in class. I'm glad that everyone is so interested in history, but if one more person asks if I'm related to the Schuyler sisters or Eliza Hamilton reincarnated I will assign them an essay.

I can't imagine how Alexander must feel. His name is literally Alexander Hamilton. The amount of people that have gone up to him because of his name recently has been overwhelming. At least that what he says. He could be exaggerating but since I see where he's coming from I believe him.

"Yes, Alexander Hamilton was a founding father, but please. Do not make the homework all about the musical."

A few people blushed as she gave them a long stare knowing their tendency to stray off-topic.

"Okay, Ms. Schuyler."

I smiled at them and then opened the door for them to leave for their next class.

"Alright, go on now. You don't want to be late."

"Bye Ms, Schuyler!" was heard as some children walked by waving.

"Bye!" I said with a chuckled before sitting at my desk with a happy sigh.

Thankfully the next period was lunch so I didn't have any more children to look after for 40 minutes.

 _*Knock* *Knock*_

I turned around to see a young woman walk into the room.

A smile broke out on my face as I saw my younger sister walk into my room wearing a warm yellow sweater and skinny jeans. She was a little short but only a few inches shorter than me. She had light caramel skin and dark golden brown waving hair up in a low ponytail. Her dark chocolate eyes sparkled playfully as she walked in.

"Hey Peg!"

"Hey Liz!" we hugged each other for a minute before sitting down by my desk.

I pulled out my lunch bag and took out a container of oatmeal I made this morning, although I haven't had time to eat until now.

"So, how is your first day of teaching Peggy?"

She shrugged as she sat on one of the desks nearby instead of pulling up a chair.

"It's cool I guess. I mean, I love being with the younger kids, but I don't know if they'll like me…" Peggy trailed off looking down at her hands.

I quickly grabbed her left hand and squeezed it trying to offer some comfort.

"Of course the will! It may take time, but trust me. You're great with kids! Whenever you came over to babysit Philip when he was younger, he always told me about how much fun he had and asked when he would be able to see you again. A few times I've had to bribe him with candy to stop asking about you!"

Peggy laughed as she blushed lightly at my praise.

"Thanks, sis."

I smiled, happy to bring a smile back to her face. "No problem Peg."

We sat there and talked for a little while before my phone rang.

"Hold on a moment Peg."

She nodded and sipped her iced tea.

I frowned as I saw Philip's school number.

"Hello, this is miss Schuyler speaking."

A polite female voice answered. "Hello, Ms. Schuyler... wait but I thought you were Philip Hamilton's mom. Is this the right number?"I sighed, I had gotten this a lot, but at least she didn't comment on about the Schuyler Sisters.

"Yes, I'm his mom. My husband and I divorced and I kept my maiden name, although we are still on good terms. Now can I ask what has caused you to call me?"

"Oh! Uh, sorry miss I shouldn't have assumed…"

"It's alright, but what about Philip?"

"Well...he got in a fight during lunch."

 _Oh no, not again._

"Well is he okay? What was the fight about? I can assure you my Philip isn't a violent person. He just has a short temper."

Peggy perked up at the word fight and looked at me concerned. I waved her off as I listened to what the woman said."Well, miss, apparently this boy Eacker was taunting him about something and Philip punched him."

"Ah, Philip…" I mumbled under my breath.

"I'll be there as quick as I can."

"Thank you, miss."

I hung up and grabbed my bags.

Peggy stood up to help me gather my things.

"What happened? Is Philip okay? What's this about fighting?"

I sighed deeply and rubbed my forehead as I felt a headache coming on.

"Well, they didn't tell me how wasn't fine but he got in a fight, Peggy. On the first day!"

Peggy wrapped her arms around me for a moment and I relaxed a little in her caring embrace.

"Relax Liz'. Take deep breaths. I'm sure this was only a misunderstanding. Philip is never violent without a reason. He was probably defending himself.

I sighed again and nodded against her back and broke apart from the hug.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Of course I am."

I smiled at her before grabbing my coat as we walked out of the classroom.

"Now, you're starting to sound like Angelica."

Peggy gasped pretending to sound flattered.

"Really? Thank you! I try." She said this with a hair flip which she somehow accomplished flawlessly with her long hair.

I chuckled as I walked down the hall.

"Tell them to prepare a sub in case I can't get back in time for my next class!" I yell over my back as I walk towards the school lobby.

"Okay! Tell Philip I said hi!"

"I will!"

* * *

 **Okay, that was a little boring, but it will eventually pick up. Reviews are always welcome! I will take any advice I can honestly. Until next time! Which will hopefully be tomorrow?**

 **~PJOandHP4life**


	2. A Little Less Normal

**Hey guys! It's me! I'm actually still writing this! I'm sorry about the late update, but writing the exposition can be both fun and excruciating. Plus, school.**

 **Also... Thanks for the reviews guys! They make my day! (Especially yours Guest-that-I-do-not-know-the-name-of-but-you-know-who-you-are!) Alright, back to the story!**

* * *

(Philip POV) RING!

Everyone rushed to get their things and go on to the next period.

I had already planned ahead and only had to get out of my seat, my mom convinced me to buy a watch to keep track of time which is surprisingly useful.

All my stuff was already packed, my dad insisted that I brought at least four notebooks just in case they wanted us to take notes.

I tried to argue with him, I mean it's only the first day of school, but it turns out he was right. At least three classes already had us take notes on what to bring in for a supply check on Friday. These New York schools don't play around.

"Alright guys, I hope you enjoy the rest of your school day. I assume everyone has their schedules?" the teacher asked while shuffling some syllabus papers for the new year.

A chorus of "yes" went around the room as everyone rushed out the door to find where they were supposed to be.

I looked down at the schedule the school gave me to see that my next period was lunch.

 _Great! Now I have to awkwardly face the fact that I'm the new kid and make new friends._

I sighed as I put headphones in my ear as I walked to the cafeteria sign I passed on my way to my first class.

 _Oh, well. It shouldn't be that bad._

As I stood in front of the crowd of people that all seemed to stop and stare as soon as I walked in, I realize I was terribly wrong.

I just evaded their eyes and pulled out my earbuds as I looked for an open seat.

As I walked down between the tables, I felt eyes trailing my every move.

Then the whispers started.

"Did you hear what his name was? They called him Philip Hamilton. Just like in Hamilton!"

"He looks just like Anthony Ramos!"

"Do you think they're related."

"I wonder if he can get us tickets!"

I sighed deeply as I heard the familiar gossip that's been following me since I arrived in New York.

Hamilton was starting to ruin my life.

 _*vvvvvvv*_

I felt my phone vibrate in my left front pocket.

It was a text from my dad.

 _Speak of the devil._

 **To MySon!:** _Hey Pip! I hope you enjoy your first day of junior year at your new high school. Text me when you can okay?_

I smiled as I texted him back. Deciding not to mention the numerous stares I was now receiving due to my/his last name.

 **From MySon!:** _Hey dad! School is alright so far. I have sooo many classes. And my legs are killing me from all of the walking. The steps dad. The steps!_

I put my phone away before scanning the room for a place to eat.

I sighed in relief as I finally found a seat near the left corner of the room.

I walked up and smiled politely at the girl as noticed me walk up.

"Hey, can I sit here?"

She eyed me warily before shrugging.

"Alright, go ahead."

I smiled in thanks as I sat down. She had on a light purple blouse and some light blue skinny jeans. She had a deep bronze skin tone and her curly dark brown hair was in a neat high ponytail. I noticed she had light makeup on framing her eyes making the warm chocolate color pop out.

She was the only one at the table other than myself so I decided that I might as start a conversation. Just as I started to speak, the girl looked up at me and beat me to it.

"Hey, I'm Theodosia Burr Jr. and I'm guessing you're the new kid. Philip Hamilton if I'm correct?"

I stared at her in shock for a moment before gathering my thoughts.

 _Come on Philip pull yourself together._

I gave her my winning smile that always got girls at my old school to swoon.

"Why, yes. And I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you, my dear Theodosia."

She rolled her eyes at my pun and promptly began to eat her soup, ignoring me completely.

 _Hmm, well this is a new response._

We sat there awkwardly for a few moments. Well, I guess I was the awkward one, Theo (the name I decided I would call her. I mean, Theodosia Jr. is sooo long) was perfectly comfortable enjoying her lunch and completely ignoring my existence.

I decided I had better start over before I made my first enemy.

"Um, Theo, uh I mean Theodosia," I quickly corrected myself seeing her raise an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, Philip?"

I blushed as she said my name. For some reason, I felt butterflies in my stomach.

It must be because I'm hungry.

At this thought, I quickly started to pull out my food before turning back to Theo and finish speaking.

"Well, I just wanted to, um, apologize for teasing you about the musical. I know from experience that it is very annoying to be immediately asked—"

"The one from the musical Hamilton right?" we both said at the same time.

We looked at each other for a minute before she let out the cutest giggle I've ever heard.

I smiled unconsciously before continuing after I stared at her for a little too long.

"Yeah, that. So I guess, can we start over?" I ended kinda in a rush.

She went quiet for what felt like an hour but was probably only a minute or two.

The longer she took to answer, the more my confidence dwindled to the point that I couldn't even get myself to look at her.

I had started eating my PBJ sandwich to distract myself from my nervous thoughts. For some reason, I wanted to be friends with this girl. I probably just was desperate for anyone to talk to that would make Hamilton references every ten seconds.

"Sure."

I looked up from my sandwich speaking with my mouthful.

"Ime sworre whab?"

She smiled slightly at my garbled speech and I swallowed sheepishly.

"What I meant was, I'm sorry what?"

She only seemed to be more amused by my shy actions. I liked her smile a lot.

"Sure, you can start over…. And Theo is fine."

I smiled broadly trying to contain my excitement of actually make a friend.

"Okay! Ahem, I mean, alright." She giggled once more at my eagerness.

"Well, I, Philip Hamilton, am glad to have the pleasure of this acquaintance miss, Theo," I said this while taking her hand and kissing it softly.

I looked up to see her blush before snatching her hand back.

"Uh, It's nice to meet you as well sir Philip."

I winked and replied, "Philip's just fine honey."

She rolled her eyes once more, but this time with amusement.

"Don't call me honey Pippi Longstocking."

I sputtered, indignant at this new nickname.

"I am not Pippi Longstocking!"

She just smiled and nodded.

"Whatever you say Pippi," she said with a wink.

I felt a warm blush creep into my face and stop at my ears.

"You're awful."

She laughed loudly at my pout.

"Thank you, I try."

I smiled again at her laugh. I liked it even more than her giggle.

"Um, excuse me? But what do you think you're doing talking to my girl?"

I turn around at the sudden angry voice I hear behind me.

I see a tall dark skinned guy in a navy blue hoodie standing over me. His face was slightly hidden by the shadows created by his low hanging hood, but I could clearly see his eyes. A dark brown that seemed to be scanning over me. Something about his gaze made me feel slightly anxious.

I cleared my throat trying to seem at least a little intimidating but that only seemed to make him smirk sending shivers up my spine.

I gulped.

Theo rolled her eyes, she seemed to do that a lot, before glaring at the guy.

"I'm not your 'girl' Eacker."

This "Eacker" guy seemed undeterred by this and kept his eyes on me. I'm not sure if I liked that he wasn't paying attention to her or not. I didn't want him to act like a jerk to her or anything, but I also felt uneasy with his predatory eyes on me.

Eventually, after what felt like centuries of tense silence he looked over to Theo. I let out a relieved breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

His smirk turned into a forced friendly smile, but it didn't reach his eyes which were now a blank canvas. He moved to sit down, pulling a chair in between us to keep me away from Theo.

"My dear Theodosia, you don't have to keep shying away from our relationship. Especially in front of such scum, no matter how charming he might be."

I frowned at this, not sure if I should take it as an insult or compliment.

Theo was quickly losing her patience as Eacker moved to put his arm around her.

"Eacker, I have told you not to call me that a million times. And we don't have a relationship!"

As she said this, she shoved his arm off of her and tried to continue eating.

Apparently, her first tactic when dealing with annoying people is to ignore them.

Eacker, however, didn't get the message and continued to be persistent.

"Aw Theo—"

"Don't call me Theo!"

"I just want to be there for you. Why won't you let me in?"

Theo finally snapped and whipped her head around to face him, standing up to her full height.

"Eacker...leave me ALONE!"

I gulped as I caught sight of her glare. Well, that was both incredibly terrifying and attractive.

Even Eacker seemed a bit frightened but quickly covered it up with a scowl.

"Fine, but don't come running back when you realize little 'Pip' here isn't the right guy for you."

Now that caught my attention.

 _I should probably stay out of this…._

 _But then again, what would pops do?_

 _Great, now I'm about to do something I will regret._

"Hey Eacker, the lady asked you to leave her alone. I would walk away now if I were you. Also, don't call me Pip."

Eacker turned around to face me. His attention was once again fully on me as soon as I opened my mouth. His eyes sparkled with a promise of a challenge as he stayed right where he was seated.

"Oh look! Loverboy can actually talk!" he paused to laugh at his own joke before slightly leaning over me with a glare.

"Whatcha gonna do about it, huh Pip?" he said with a smirk ending in almost a whisper as he took a strand of my hair and twirled it around.

I gulped at his proximity but didn't back down from his challenge. I wouldn't let this guy boss me around for the rest of the school year.

I glared back ready to fight, but only if necessary.

"I'm going to politely ask you to leave one more time. I also said don't call me Pip. "

Eacker frowned as if he expected me to say, or do, something else. He quickly forced a smirk back on his face and pulled back.

"Hmm, I don't think so Pip," he said stretching out the nickname that I only allow my father to call me.

 _Okay, now I was going to lose my cool in T-7 seconds._

Theo pulled on Eacker's arm asking him to just leave but he shoved her off.

6.

Eacker started to laugh loudly and boast on how he made me so upset I was about to cry.

5.

A group of kids started surrounding us and laughing.

4.

Some idiot just called out, "Little Pippy wants his mommy!"

3.

Eacker's arm was back around Theodosia claiming what a wimp I was, unable to defend her like a real man.

2.

Eacker sneered at me saying in a baby voice, "Aw, sorry little Pip. But daddy isn't here to give you dueling advice this time."

1.

 _That's it._

Next thing I know, Eacker was on the ground with his face covered in a red stream from his nose, Theo is yelling at me to calm down, and I'm being surrounded by officers that patrol the school.

 _Mom isn't going to like this._

* * *

(A. Ham POV)

"Hamilton, the boss said he needs this article done by Thursday."

I looked up to see Burr standing next to my desk. I guess I didn't notice him approach me. I was a little too enraptured with my writing again. Oops.

I saw him raise an eyebrow at my silence.

 _Oh, right!_

"Uh, yes Mr. Burr sir! I'll start on that later today sir."

Burr nodded an amused smile tugging at his lips at my disgruntled state.

"And try to not spend so much time criticizing George King in your other articles alright? The man receives enough attention as it is with the upcoming election. The people should know that there are other serious events outside of American Politics."

I frowned at this and tried to refute his claim.

"Burr, how can I be quiet about issues relevant to so many people that deserve recognition. We have another candidate that will actually stop gun violence, pollution, and poverty! Heck, he even has an actual working idea for a health care plan!"

I paused to point at the picture on the front of the last paper published on my computer.

Burr looked to see the Democratic candidate promoting his campaign at a children's hospital.

"The news is the only way we can stand up to this bigotry and save this election!"

I stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders as I became more passionate.

"Burr, we are the news!"

Burr stared at me for a moment, regarding me with a critiquing gaze I have known only him to pull off.

"And what if you're backing the wrong horse?"

I sighed, this was why we couldn't get along. He was always hesitant in saying his views. He never took a side on anything.

"Oh come on Burr! You say that every time! Do you ever have an opinion on anything?"

Burr was silent and gave me a long stare.

"Just write the article, Alexander. I'm sure you can channel your passion into something."

I grumbled in defeat as I took the paper he held out to me before walking away.

"Good Ol' Burr, always there to lift everyone's spirits," I mumbled sarcastically as I looked down at the papers he gave me for the new article.

 _Wait a minute…_

I slowly smiled as I read more of it.

 _Oh, this is gonna be fun._

* * *

(A. Burr POV)

Two hours later, I came back to see Hamilton writing up a storm with papers flying everywhere, basically covering his typing form crouched on the floor on his laptop.

"Hamilton!? What the hell happened!?"

The humanoid form on the floor started moving.

All of a sudden, the papers flew up in the air as the figure got up into a standing position.

I jumped in surprise as the rest of the office also turned to see what was the commotion.

When they saw it was just Hamilton writing, they just went back to work with a frustrated sigh. My "partner" was very infamous here at the New York Times.

"Oh, um, hey Burr."

I scanned him to see a green button-down shirt even more wrinkled than this morning and two new stains and there were posted notes spread at random on his arms and legs. His face was even more of a mess. At some point, he must have put reading glasses on since they were sitting across his nose crooked. His eyebrows were furrowed and one had a piece of blue tape on it. His eyes looked red due to how long he was staring, probably without blinking, at a computer. His hair was once in a ponytail and now just a frazzled greasy mess.

 _Oh, why did I have to be paired with him? So unorganized, yet he still manages to finish articles at least a week before the deadline._

After I regained my composure, I sighed deeply rubbing my left hand across my face as my other rest on my hip in an annoyed stance.

"What in God's name were you doing?"

He frowned and looked around at his mess before looking back up at me sheepishly.

"Um, writing of course."

I blinked at him.

He blinked back.

 _I'm too young for this._

"Whatever Hamilton. I only came by to tell you that you've received 3 missed calls from some high school, 25 from someone named Elizabeth Hamilton, and 5 from your son I believe."

As I spoke, his face went through many expressions.

The first one was confusion as I mentioned the school. The next was slight fear as I mention this "Elizabeth," person. The last concern and guilt as he quickly grabbed his computer bag and tried to make his way out of the mess of papers.

"Oh god, she's gonna kill me! How could I have gotten so distracted? Burr did she mention anything else other than her name?" he asked when stood in front of me, which was quite a feat considering how many papers there were.

"Uh, she said something about….an emergency at school. Something happened to your son I guess."

He paled even more before swiftly running out of the office.

"I stared at his retreating form in shock.

"WHAT ABOUT THE ARTICLE?" I yelled before he ran down the stairs to the ground level.

"IT'S DONE SOMEWHERE ON MY DESK!"

I looked back at the absolute mess of his workspace.

I inhaled deeply before smiling stiffly.

 _One day, I'm gonna shoot him._

* * *

(Eliza POV)

I sighed in anguish as I entered the school's office to see Philip seated next to an officer.

I rushed to him, not even identifying myself. I'll do it later, first I need to know if my baby's okay.

"Oh, Philip! Are you alright? What happened? Did someone hurt you? Why can't you just stay safe! I told Alexander it would be better to play you in a private school!"

I checked his face for any bruises but saw none. I then proceeded to scan the rest of his body for injuries.

"Mom, I'm fine really! You can let me go now. I didn't get hurt, relax."

 _Yeah right, like I believe that._

I looked down to see his left hand's knuckles were slightly bruised.

"Oh my god, Philip did you punch someone?" I asked cradling his hand.

I looked up to see the office staff just staring at me.

"Well, isn't there a nurse he should be seeing?!"

A few shrugged while the others got to work. One person was sent to the nurse's office while another just asked me for identification.

"Excuse me miss," she said in a fake cheerful voice.

"But can you please sign in."

 _Why silly me! How could I have forgotten to sign in? Oh yeah, because my son is sitting here with a bruised hand and no one is doing a single thing about it but let an officer watch him like a dog!_

But of course, I only smiled softly, "Yes of course." After years of being a mom, you get used to having to control your emotions around other people.

I smiled softly at Philip letting him know that the questioning was over, for now.

After I signed in on a clipboard, the woman handed me as Philip's mom, the nurse finally came in and took him to her office to tend to his hand.

The officer went to follow but I only glared at him.

"Sir, I don't believe your services will be necessary."

 _Where were you when the fight started huh?_

He opened his mouth to argue when someone else in the office defended me.

"You can go, sir, the woman's right."

I nodded my thanks before I followed Philip and the nurse into her office.

I was thankful the school did a significant amount of fundraising. The office looked better than most I've been in. There was a separate room with cots for students to lay on and privacy curtains. There was also a checkup room with another nurse inside. She seemed much younger and had her hair up in a high ponytail. She stood up as we came into the main room and walked over to meet us. I noticed that she and wore a light blue nurse uniform instead of the white one the nurse that brought us in was sporting.

She was probably an assistant. She looks young enough to go to school here, she might volunteer.

The young lady turned to give the nurse a knowing look that the older woman gave a small scowl at in return.

The younger lady just chuckled before facing us with a polite smile at her face.

I heard a gasp from next to me and turned to see my son staring at the girl with a look of confusion.

 _Hmm, maybe they know each other._

The older nurse turned around to face us.

"Okay ma'am, please follow me into my office," she said before turning to face the young girl.

"Theodosia, you can give him a once over and tend to any injuries as necessary."

The girl nodded and turned to my Philip with a small smile.

"Come on Philip."

 _Yes, they must know each other since he hasn't introduced himself yet._

He blushed slightly before following the girl into the room as I followed the nurse.

 _Hmm, I'll have to ask him about that when we get home._

I turned my attention to the nurse as we entered her office. She closed the door before sitting down at her desk. She gestured to the only other seat in the room in front of her desk which I swiftly sat down in.

It was silent for a moment as it seemed she didn't know why we were meeting.

 _Looks like I'll have to take this into my own hands._

"Miss, can you tell me what happened to my son? Why did he get into a fight?"

She seemed startled by my inquisitive attitude. Apparently, she wasn't used to this.

 _Maybe she's new._

"Uh well," she paused to look through some papers as if they held the answer to my question.

"He was in a fight about thirty minutes ago."

 _Yes, yes I already know that. The office told me, but what caused the fight? Who did he fight? Were there multiple people involved? What happened?! I wasn't there._

"Uh yes, but can you tell me anything else?" I asked as politely as I could try to hide how frustrating this was.

 _Didn't anyone see what happened? I'm past patiently waiting for an answer._

She seemed at a loss and gave up looking through the papers. The nurse sighed in defeat as she took off her wire glasses to rub her forehead. I felt a surge of motherly sympathy towards her overcome me at that moment. I guess dealing with a fight so early in the school year could be stressful.

"I'm sorry miss…"

"Schuyler. My name is Elizabeth Schuyler."

The nurse gave me a tired smile before she continued.

"I'm sorry Ms. Schuyler, but they haven't informed me of the situation with your son. I can call someone in the office to talk with you."

I sighed but thanked her nonetheless.

As I stood up and left her office, I saw Philip walk out of the checkup room with a bright blush flaring his cheeks.

 _Hmm, I think I see what's happening here._

"Philip, how'd the checkup go?"

He jumped and looked back at me with some relief.

"Oh, hey mom."

 _I'll just ignore that little scene for now._

"How are his hands?" I asked looking at the young nurse.

She seemed a little surprised I was addressing her but quickly recovered.

"Well the bruising area was a little tender, but with a little time and care he should be fine."

I nodded and smiled my thanks before turning back to look at my son.

"Philip can you follow me please."

He noticeably paled but followed me down the hall.

Once we were out of earshot, I turned around to face him.

"What were you thinking?!"

Philip looked slightly scared at my sudden change from overprotective mom to scolding mom.

"Uh, I um, what?"

I sighed deeply rubbing my head.

"Why did you get in another fight Philip? On the first day! We talked about this!"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I-I don't know! It's just— He was messing with her and I didn't want to just stand by! Then he started calling me "Pip" and you know I only let you and dad do that! Then there was a crowd and they were practically suffocating me! I tried to stay calm but I just...exploded!"

He was shaking as I put my hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at me and all I could see was my baby ashamed after being caught trying to steal a cookie.

 _Aw Pip._

I pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back whispering soothing words to calm him down.

"It's alright baby. Just calm down. You're okay now. I'm right here."

He slowly started to relax as his frantic breathing slowed.

Eventually, he pulled away from the hug and smiled down at me. I wasn't yet used to him leaning over me.

 _My poor baby's growing up._

I smiled as I softly touched his cheek.

"Come on, let's go home."

We walked back past the office intending to just go home.

"Ma'am wait!"

We turned around to see a man holding open the office door.

"We need to talk to you both before you can leave."

I frowned slightly but steered Philip back towards the office.

We sat down as a man in a black suit walked out from behind a door.

He smiled at us before taking off his glasses and placing them on a nearby desk.

He pulled up a chair to sit facing us.

"Now, I know you probably just want to go home and try to relax after this but we need to talk about the fight."

I looked at Philip with a question in my eyes.

 _Was all this necessary? I guess they just want to keep others safe, but still._

"We have already spoken to the other boy, George Eacker I believe. Now we would like to hear if anyone else was involved. Then you'll be free to leave."

He looked towards Philip as he said the last part.

Philip looked a little uncomfortable but did answer.

"Well, it all started with Theo—"

"Wait who is Theo?" The man asked leaning forward, intrigued.

Philip shifted nervously.

"Uh, Theodosia Jr. was her name. We just met today at lunch. Just before the fight."

 _Wait, isn't that the girl he was with a few minutes ago in the nurse's office?_

"Hmm, I think I recall that name. We'll have to call her and her father in as well."

At this, I came to a sudden realization.

"Um, excuse me, but do you happen to know if Philip's father has yet to be contacted?"

The man shrugged before walking over to a desk to ask someone something.

He walked back and sat down again.

"Apparently he was called at least twice, but hasn't answered."

In the corner of my eye, I could see Philip eyeing me. Waiting out my reaction to this news. I inhaled deeply as I tried hard to keep my now stiff smile on my face.

 _Alexander…_

* * *

 **Well** ** _someone_** **is going to be in big trouble. I'm sorry if that was a little boring, but don't worry the action will pick up by the end of the next chapter. Hopefully...**

 **Please review, fav, or follow! (Seriously please, I have no life and love reviews.)**

 **~PJOandHP4life**


	3. Trouble's in the Air

**Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry, this took so long. I've been busy. However, now that I'm on break I can write more!**

 **Now some info about the chapter:**

 **Please, if you do not know the French pronunciation of "Gilbert," look it up. It just sounds so much better than the English way. Also, Sally is mentioned in this, but only briefly. She won't be in a relationship with him, don't worry. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then no worries! And all French words are in italics with translations in parentheses. (Some aren't because they are well known, but if you don't understand I can change it.)**

* * *

(Jefferson POV)

"We're live in 10 minutes people! 10 minutes!"

I looked up to see a woman in overalls with a navy blue Yankees hat. She spins her finger around in a wrap it up symbol before walking over towards some crew members having difficulty with the speaker system.

I sighed as I tried my best not to flinch as a makeup artist came over to apply some concealer and blush to my cheeks. As I had nothing else to do, I looked over the woman in front of me. She had honey blond hair in a pixie cut with the purple highlights, the front was longer than the rest and hung down to her neck. She also had nice bangs completely dyed violet. Her face was done with the best makeup I've ever seen, not on me of course.

When I was done scanning her face, she backed up to survey her work. I took the advantage to study her form. The woman was petite and looked like she was European. She was probably in her 20s, maybe 25 or so. I shook myself out of my inspection to notice she had finished hers as well. Now she was looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

 _I guess I wasn't as discreet with my observations as I thought._

I just smirked and let my "superstar charm" take over.

"Sorry doll. I guess I was too distracted by your good looks to thank you for perfecting mine." I said with a hand gesture to my newly done makeup.

She smirked before rolling her eyes. "You're welcome your highness," she said with a sarcastic bow.

She also had an accent, European as I suspected. _Hmm...sounded French. Nice I like the French ones._

I raised her head with my index finger pushing lightly on her chin. I looked into her eyes with a small smile.

"Just call me Thomas," I looked down at her name tag, "Ms. Sally."

She scoffed and turned away, probably to hide the slight blush I saw rising on her cheeks.

"Stupid hot celebrities," she mumbled quietly.

I smirked and went to make another comment—

"5 minutes people! Let's get this show on the road!" the same girl walked by and paused when she saw me with Sally.

"Sally! What are you doing?!" she asked walking up to us.

Sally looked up slightly startled and rushed to gather her blush pad and other brushes.

"I'm sorry! He just—" The woman raised an eyebrow before folding her arms waiting for her to continue.

"Uh, nevermind. It's unimportant," she said with her head down.

The woman seemed unsatisfied, but let it go. She then looked to me with a wary gaze.

I smiled innocently and winked causing her to roll her eyes before turning back to Sally.

"Well come on! You still have work to do! You can flirt with Mr, Jefferson later."

Sally sputtered indignantly as she followed the woman to another area of the stage.

I watched for a while before becoming disinterested and checking my social media on my phone.

Just as I was laughing at some of the "slightly" overly desperate attempts to gain my attention in some newer posts from my followers, Sally came back.

"Well, look who's back. Are you up to some more flirting?"

As I said this, I wiggled my eyebrows in a way that always got girls to either blush or laugh.

To my surprise, she only sighed in defeat before yanking on my arm and pulling me off my chair.

"Come on Mr. Jefferson, it's your cue."

She then continued to drag me off toward the curtain by the left stage entrance.

I turned around and grabbed her hands she was pushing me with once we were right outside the door.

"I said, you can call me Thomas doll."

She just smiled overly bright and took her hand back.

"It's showtime, _Mr. Jefferson_ ," she said with extra stress on my name, then before I knew it I was in front of a large crowd practically screaming at me with ten lights all directed at my face.

I quickly regained my senses and put on a smile, waving to the crowd.

I walked over to the host and shook hands as she greeted me with a joke.

I easily responded with my usual wit setting the crowd on fire in laughter.

I smiled again before sitting down in the signature guest star seat.

 _Time to get to work._

* * *

(Lafayette POV)

"Vote Washington for 2016 President!" I yelled around at all the people in the cafe.

"Gilbert, quiet down will you? We're trying to have a casual lunch out, no start a campaigning convention," he whispered smiling politely to the few people that look this way due to my outburst.

I just chuckled and winked at the people still looking at us.

A few just scowled before turning back to their food. Some others, mainly _femmes_ , blushed before looking away quickly.

We walked further into the restaurant and took our seats at a table near a window close to the bar.

Washington picked up a menu and I decided to actually look around and see where exactly we were eating.

The warm brown theme matched the autumn weather we've been having the past two months.

The cafe was quaint but very popular as there was someone seated at every table enjoy their mid-afternoon with a warm coffee.

There were booths, wooden chairs, and tables, as well as two couches to lounge on. The restaurant had shelves of old music CDs and books. Customers would choose a book to read or could request a CD to be played while dining.

It was old-fashioned, yet still very popular by the looks of it.

I turned back to my menu scanning for any type of pastry, preferably of French origins, to satisfy my hunger.

"You've chosen a nice place for us to meet George."

Said man looked up startled by the disruption of the calm silence.

"Oh, uh... yeah. I saw a nice review about this place in the New York Times and decided to try it out."

I hummed just as a waitress came to take our orders.

"Hello, sirs. I'm Adri **(No she isn't Adrienne.)** and I'll be your waiter today. What would you like to order?" She said this all with a polite smile as she took out a notepad to write on.

The woman was actually very beautiful. She had a tanned olive skin tone and dark hazel hair that was up in a french bun on the top of her head. There were a few curly strands that escaped framing her almond shaped, warm, brown eyes.

 _Hmm... Nicely done bun. I can respect a woman that can do a french bun right._

George smiled at her and put done his NY Times newspaper he brought to read, prepared to order.

"I'll have a…. Chicken and portabella panini on whole wheat bread with…. A Chai tea latte." he said with a smile, looking over the menu as he spoke.

Adri nodded and wrote down what he ordered.

"Iced or hot?" she asked looking back up at George, referring to his drink.

"Hot please."

She smiled and wrote it down.

"Alright then…."

As she finished writing, Adri turned to me.

"And you sir?"

I smiled up at her letting my "French charm" take over.

"Well mon cher, I would like the...pain au chocolat and the…. Noisette s'il vous plait." I said this all with my adopted accent from my ten years in France. It certainly helped to get what I want. Or to see a young girl flustered.

Adri blushed a little and looked to George.

"Uh… can you please translate that?"

George smiled apologetically, for the fourth time that day, and said, "He wants a chocolate croissant and an Italian Macchiato."

She nodded and blushed slightly as she turned back to me.

"Uh, sorry sir, but we only have regular croissants," she said with an apologetic smile as she tried to avoid my eyes while still facing me.

Hmm, oh well.

"Alright then I'll have…. Le baguette au prosciutto et à la mozzarella fraîche and the, how you say…?" I looked to Washington and he pointed to my drink order on his menu. "The Italian Macchiato I believe."

She nodded and looked behind me to George.

"Prosciutto Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Baguette," he translated politely. As she looked down to write the order, he gave me an annoyed look.

"Must you always speak French when we go out in public? People are going to start to believe you're foreign." he paused and lowered his voice before saying the rest.

"And you know we can't have a rumor like that going around for the presidency."

My usual smirk fell to a sheepish smile.

"I know mon amie, but there are records that I was born here. My accent might be suspicious as well as my speech, but they can go through my records to see I spent 5 years in Paris! No worries!" As I finished speaking, my smirk fell back into place.

"Plus, it is nice to see them flustered no?" I said this with a wink to the waitress to which she quickly blushed.

George just rolled his eyes, but a small smile was on his face.

Once Adri regained her bearings, she looked back up with a bright smile on her face. I noticed she made a great effort to look at George and not me.

 _Hmm, now that won't do._

I now gave her my entire attention watching her fingers twirl a pen and fix her hair nervously as she felt my gaze on her.

"Uh, w-would," Adri cleared her throat before continuing. "Would that be all?"

George opened his mouth to answer politely but I beat him to it.

"Oui, mademoiselle." I then made a bold decision, although pretty normal for me.

I bent over as I took her hand.

And I kissed it softly my lips only brushing against her smooth skin for 2 seconds.

I hovered for a moment and could smell a hint of cinnamon.

I raised my head slowly. I could almost feel the heat of Washington's glare on me.

I looked into her eyes and smirked as I saw her attempts to ignore me were dashed away completely to be replaced with a bright tomato red blush flaring across her cheeks.

"I, uh, um uh…." she nervously laughed fixing her already perfect hair again.

I raised an eyebrow at her flustered face.

"I... I'll just go get you food," she said with a slightly raised voice before she dashed away as quickly as she could without drawing too much attention.

I looked after her retreating form trying to avoid the scolding I would undoubtedly receive if I dared turn around.

When she had left my sight, I heard a throat clearing behind me.

 _Well, I guess I can't avoid it forever._

I turned around as slowly as I could to see an annoyed bald man staring back at me.

"Oui…" I started before seeing him raise an eyebrow… "I mean, yes?"

"What did I just tell you?" he said pausing between each word to put more emphasis.

I looked down at my lap. I felt kinda like a child being chastised.

"Lafayette?"

 _Damn, full last name._

"... Not to speak in French so much."

"And what else?"

"... Not to draw attention to myself."

"And what did you _just_ do?"

"..."

"Lafayette?"

I sighed but replied. **(Rhymes am I right?)**

"I spoke French and drew attention to myself."

"Exactly."

I looked up to see him smiling in amusement.

"What am I going to do with you?"

I smiled back and chuckled.

"Hey what can I say? Je suis Français ( _I am French_ )."

George rolled his eyes again, although this time it was only amusement.

"Gilbert, we've been over this. You shouldn't go around saying you're French, or the press will start speculating if you were actually born in America."

I smirked as we revisited my third favorite subject.

"Whatever you say mon amie."

A few minutes later we got our food, from a different waiter, although he was just as cute.

As I took my first bite into my sandwich, I looked up to watch the TV. It was one of those talk shows with guest star….

"Oh no, not him," I said laying my head in my arms in embarrassment.

Washington looked up in confusion at the television before he chuckled in realization.

"You know," he said nudging my left arm from across the table.

"He is your brother. You should at least try to get along."

I looked up to glare at Washington.

"Yeah, unlikely. He is _un cul arrogant_. (an arrogant ass) Why would I ever converse with him?"

George clicked his tongue and spoke before sipping his drink.

"Language."

I snorted. "You don't even know what I said." He just gave me a look. "I know you well enough to say with confidence that there is no way that sentence had no curses in it."

I smiled and didn't try to deny the statement.

I turned back to the show to see _him_ finish his entrance.

" _Well Thomas, how wonderful it is to see you again."_

" _Aw, thanks darlin'. It's always a pleasure to be here."_

The hostess blushed as he winked with a smirk frighteningly similar to mine.

" _So we've heard about you starring in a new move hmm?"_

" _Ah yes, uh, it's called The Mansion Where IT Happens."_

" _Yes, a horror movie if I'm not mistaken."_

" _Yeah a mystery Thriller, my first if I, uh, might add."_

" _Really? Well then, this should be an exciting new experience."_

" _Yes, but it's fun! I enjoy working with my fellow actors and especially my partner if ya know what I mean."_

Ugh, I can't stand that man.

"Come on George, it's about time for us to go," I said finishing off my sandwich and wiping my mouth. I didn't want to listen to him anymore.

Washington looked up mid-bite. "But I'm not done yet Gilbert. We can leave in five minutes okay?"

 _Uh, no. Not okay at all._

"Yeah, but we have so much work to do for the campaign. And it's getting a little late. I want to some get work done by at least 6 this evening.

George frowned at my odd behavior but shrugged.

"Alright...but when did you become organized."

"When I decided I wanted to cause change and help America. Now can we please leave?" I asked getting a little annoyed.

George frowned at my strange reaction but got up.

"Okay, okay. I'll pay the check," he said going up to the counter to pay.

I put on my jacket getting ready to go when I felt a figure looking down at me.

I looked up to see Adri standing over me with a small smile.

"Uh, hey?" I said with a polite smile, unsure of what was going on.

She bit her lip but responded, "Hey…."

She nervously shifted her feet before handing a slip of paper.

I took it to see a number with her name written in neat cursive with a heart beside it.

I looked back up at her to see a bright smile.

"Call me sometime huh?" she said before turning away with a wink.

I stared after her with my mouth slightly agape.

Washington walked back to see me in the same position.

"Uh, Gilbert? Are you okay?" he said with concern laced in his voice.

After a few seconds, my mouth slowly morphed into a smile and I finally looked at him.

"Nothing, I just won myself a phone number with my accent français lisse ( _smooth French accent_ )," I said as I showed him the paper.

He looked at it, me, then looked back at the waitress staring at us from afar before she swiftly turned away.

"Well, that explains the free food."

I raised an eyebrow at this.

"What do you mean?"

"When I went to pay the guy told me it was already covered," he said with a smile as he shook his head amused.

I laughed as I stood wrapping my arm around his shoulders as we walked to the door.

* * *

(Mulligan POV)

I walked over to the door slightly distracted by the big star.

Just then the door opened to show the actual star.

"Well, are you going to come in and help me get dressed or not?" I shook off my slight surprise and scolded myself.

Come on Mulligan. Don't mess up on the first day of the job.

"Uh sorry, I'll just come on in I guess."

He squinted his eyes at me before scanning my physique.

I seemed to have passed some test because he stepped aside to let me in.

I walked in quickly before he changed his mind and shut me out.

He shut the door loudly and walked over to get a drink from the mini fridge by his mirror.

"Wanna beer?" I shook my head no. "No thanks."

He hummed, "Suit yourself," and took a swig.

He walked to his plush black chair and twirled it around to look at me.

"Well? Aren't you going to dress me?"

Realization dawned on me and I put the outfit prepared for his talk show appearance.

"Uh alright so here's the suit…."

"Yeah, I guessed."

I blushed, thankful my dark complexion covered it up, and nervously fixed my Hamilton beanie.

"So…."

"I'll just undress while you do…whatever."

I choked on my own spit as he suddenly pulled off his shirt. I quickly looked away blushing profusely.

I could hear him chuckling behind my back.

"Aw, look at that. A clothing stylist is afraid to see a guy strip."

I scowled and turned back around trying my best to just look at his face.

"I'm not afraid. I was only trying to respect your privacy."

He shrugged and took off his pants next.

I sat down on the small sofa behind me and tried to distract myself by looking around at the decorations of the room. It was pretty plain except for the pictures around the wall of all the guest stars that have been on this show in the last 10 years.

There was one picture not on the wall that was lying against some books that lined the shelves in the room as more of a decoration than to have a use.

It was of Jefferson obviously, although he was younger by maybe 8 or 9 years. And there was another guy with him that held a strikingly similar resemblance. His hair was up in a bun and he had a French flag across the shirt he was wearing. I assumed they were in Paris as the Eiffel Tower was in the background.

The guy seemed familiar but I couldn't place my finger on it.

Also, he was kinda cute, but I digress.

"Hey, you. How do I look?"

I turned around to see Jefferson in the suit I designed. It was a nice fit and defined his muscles as I planned to. He looked good.

"Looks nice. Just let me fix the collar…." I said standing up and walking over to fix it in the back as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Done," I said stepping back.

Jefferson stared at himself in the mirror a little longer before walking over to open the door.

"Thanks, you can leave now," he said barely looking at me as he pulled out his phone.

I sighed but resigned myself to this being his normal behavior. I walked over to the door and turned around once I was outside.

"You're wel—"

He shut the door in my face.

 _Rude._

About half an hour later, I walked back to the same door and lifted my fist to knock.

Just before my hand hit the door it swung opened to reveal an annoyed Jefferson.

"Where have you been? Nevermind just get in and help me change."

He yanked on my arm and next thing I know I helping him put a magenta suit on.

"Uh, why are you wearing this…?" I asked as fixed his cravat. I had no memory of designing this outfit, and trust me, I would know if I did.

He sighed deeply and rolled his eyes.

"It's that Hamilton thing. Ever since it became popular everyone has been trying to pretend I'm _the_ Thomas Jefferson. I mean Daveed Diggs and I look nothing alike right?" He said looking to me.

"Uh…." I came at a blank as they looked like twins. Actually, I thought it was Daveed I was dressing at first before he offered me a beer and I saw his attitude.

He sighed again, "Nevermind don't answer that."

I nodded as I resumed fixing his outfit.

A few minutes later I was about to leave, my hand on the doorknob, when it swung open to show a short man with a crisp slate gray suit and a dark complexion a shade lighter than mine.

I looked down at him as he looked up at me.

"Um excuse me," he said politely before turning to cough into a handkerchief in his breast pocket.

"Ahem, sorry, but I'm looking for my client?"

I turned to look at Jefferson who moved forward and shoved me out of the way.

Once again, rude.

"Hey Jemmy, what's up?" he said with a much softer tone than the one he used with me.

"I wanted to talk to you about The Mansion Where IT Happens. You see—"

"Wait a moment Jemmy." he said before turning to look at me.

"Uh, it's rude to eavesdrop. You can go now," he said along with a shoo gesture from his hand.

 _And a third time, rude._

"Uh sorry, I'll just go."

I said walking past this "Jemmy" as he gave me an apologetic smile.

"Goodbye, it was nice to meet you…?" he said holding out his hand.

Finally, someone with manners.

"Mulligan, Hercules Mulligan," I said with a smile taking his hand.

"James Madison," he said.

"Well nice to meet you as well James," I said before I turned to leave.

* * *

(Lafayette)

I groaned in frustration as I fell back on my bed.

"Why is it so hard to choose the perfect outfit to fit my amazing personality?!"

I turned over to look at a cover of a magazine. It had a picture of a tall dark skinned man in a fashionable outfit sporting a beanie.

" _Bien sûr_!" (Of course) I exclaimed as I sat up pulling the magazine into my eager hands.

I flipped to page 5 to see a smaller picture of the man and right beneath it the answer to my problem.

" _Dieu merci_ for fashion magazines. And especially you Hercules Mulligan." I said scanning the article for good date outfit advice.

My eyes lit up as I found the perfect choice. I rushed to my closet trying hard not to fall over the pile of clothes I had thrown about in my desperate search for something to wear.

A few minutes later, I was dressed in blue jeans and a novelty white t-shirt under a burgundy sweater. He wrapped a gray infinity scarf around his neck as a finishing touch.

He admired himself in a body length mirror on the back of his bedroom door.

"Hmm, _pas mal_ (not bad)," I mumbled under my breath.

I was fixing my hair up into a bun when I heard an alarm go off.

I looked down at my wrist to see that my alarm for 10:15 am went off. About fifteen minutes before it was time to go.

I walked out my door, grabbing my keys to lock up on my way out.

 _Ping!_

I looked down to see a text from the very person I was going out to meet.

 **From Adri~:** _Hey handsome. You ready for breakfast?_

I smiled before texting back.

 **To Adri~:** _Oui mon cher. I hope you like croissants_

 **From Adri~:** _Who doesn't like French pastries? And would you please at least tell me where we are going?_

 **To Adri~:** _Non, it's a surprise! I'll just meet you at the restaurant where you work._

 **From Adri~:** _Fine… I guess I'll see you soon._

 **To Adri~:** _Remember we have to be there before noon for the, how you say, royal treatment._

 **From Adri~:** _Alright, see ya._

 **To Adri~:** _Au revoir._

I put my phone in my pocket and walked to my Lexus LS luxury sedan and started to drive down the busy New York streets.

I frowned as I looked up at the darkening sky. The weather forecast was a possible tropical storm passing by. It was believed to be coming up from the Caribbean and only skim by the east coast. The weather was said to have a possible status change to a category one hurricane, but no more than that.

I winced as I heard a loud rumble of thunder as the clouds crashed above me while the wind whipped my face.

 _Well, I really hope that forecast was correct._

A few minutes later, I was nearing the cafe where we planned to meet. Through the windows, I could see an employee flip to show the closed sign before grabbing their things. I frowned and parked my car nearby before approaching the man.

"Hey!" I called out watching them turn around as they closed the doors behind them.

They had a look of confusion on their faces but still responded, "Uh, hey. Can I help you?" he asked while turning away to lock the door.

"Uh, you're locking up a little early aren't you? I mean, it's not even noon, no?" I said with a slight laughing tone at the end of my statement.

He frowned before squinting up at the sky.

"Well, the storm is getting pretty close. We are under a Hurricane watch for the moment. Boss said to close up early. Don't wanna risk it you know?"

I nodded as I squinted up at the sky as well. The dark gray clouds were now practically black. It was hard to tell it was daytime at all.

I looked back to see the man walking off with a wave of his hand.

I walked back to my car and sat in the seat for a while considering this new information.

I took out my phone to text Adri.

 **To Adri:** _Hey, maybe we should reschedule for tomorrow? The weather is starting to look pretty bad._

 **From Adri:** _Yeah I agree. I don't want to go out with the sky looking like this so….same time tomorrow?_

 **To Adri:** _Oui, until then Adri._

 **From Adri:** _Gil, you are too cheesy for your own good._

I chuckled at this and was about to respond in a cheesy manner when she sent me another text.

 _Please stay safe._

I looked at the screen for a moment with a small smile before typing a response.

 **To Adri:** _I will. And the same to you mon cher._

I tossed the phone away before driving back home.

The storm was turning out to hover longer than expected. It seemed as if it was right over the city.

The dark clouds gave the impression of the night and the howling winds pushed harshly against people walking quickly down the streets. The fall leaves were a mess on my windshield being picked by the wind. I looked up with concern at the sky through the sunroof of my car to see an umbrella being pushed around by the wind.

Then as if the dam broke I heard a loud crash of thunder before the rain started to downpour.

" _Mon Dieu_ (My God)…" I mumbled quietly under my breath as the branches were ripped off of trees.

 _This is definitely not just a tropical storm passing by…_

* * *

 **So... Let's hope Lafayette doesn't die! (Don't worry he won't die until sometime after chapter 10.)**

 **Au revoir!**

 **~PJOandHP4life**


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**Hey! Look at that! I actually did something! I'm sorry for the late update but life has been busy. This is mainly a filler but the next one will have the storm I promise. This is starting from before Lafayette's date by the way. Enjoy~**

* * *

(A. Ham POV)

 _(A day earlier)_

I was running to Philip's high school as fast as humanly possible to avoid my ex-wife's wrath.

I stopped at a red light waiting anxiously for it to change.

I checked my watch. _12:50 pm_

Screw it. I'm past patiently waiting.

I looked for an opening and bolted across the road to avoid getting killed.

I heard quite a few curses behind me but only held up a middle finger behind me as I continued on my path.

I finally reached the school, completely out of breath. I tried to straighten my now completely rumpled shirt and my windswept hair. I did the best I could to look presentable before the untimely demise that undoubtedly awaits me upon entry of the building.

Eliza was a sweet woman unless you messed with her family which I technically did by ignoring my phone when my son needed me. Then she became a fire-breathing monster worse than a Hungarian Horntail. _What? I'm an HP nerd at heart._

I slowly walked up the steps, walking my green mile. Now that I wasn't in motion, my adrenaline rush only fueled my nerves. I went up to the door and waved to the security guard patrolling inside.

She walked over to open the door and let me in as I shuffled over to the main office.

I walked in and looked around for my son. I felt a hard stare on the back of my head. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I felt an unavoidable sense of doom.

 _Eliza…_

I turned around slowly, trying to delay my death as much as possible.

She looked normal, the same as I saw her last. Except there was a light in her eye that anyone else would overlook, but not me. I knew her, that light meant trouble. It meant I was going to feel pain, regret, and unmountable terror.

It meant I was going to _burn_.

I looked to her left to see a more friendly face. Philip sat there waving me over, he had a sheepish smile on his face as his eyes shifted nervously from me to his silently seething mother, to a pretty young girl I've never seen before yet somehow looked familiar.

"Alexander, how nice of you to join us."

Crap, I'm screwed. She's being nice. It's the calm before the storm….The eye of the hurricane.

I finally full-on faced her with a sheepish smile on my face eerily similar to Philip a moment ago.

"Hey, Liz, uh, I mean, Elizabeth." I stumbled over my words, as I was only known to do around her.

Her smile only widened at my nervous demeanor. "Please, sit. The principal wanted to discuss _our_ son's behavior with us." she said with special stress on the word "our."

I sat down next to Philip as a tall man in a suit walked over with a friendly smile to balance with his authoritative manner.

"Thank you, parents, for joining us," he said with a smile looking around the group. "We seemed to have had an issue with the students you see here, the other is currently in the nurse's office being treated." He said with a small, almost unnoticeable, grimace.

"Wait, why? Are they injured? What exactly happened?" I asked even more confused than before as I looked to Philip, still avoiding Eliza. He didn't respond or meet my gaze as he studied his hands intently.

"Well, if you had answered your phone you would know that we are here because Philip got into a fight today during lunch," Eliza said with an even tone as she gave me an annoyed look before turning to give Philip a stern one.

It was quiet in the room as I developed this information. Before I could question him further, the man spoke up to relieve the tension. "Yes, he was seen punching a senior in the face during the start of the 4th lunch period. We are here to discuss what led to the situation and determine the consequences."

He turned to the girl that looked strangely familiar. "I believe you were somehow responsible for the start of the fight yes?"

"No! She isn't responsible for anything!"

I turned around to look at my son in shock, Philip was not one to yell unless provoked.

He noticed everyone's eyes on him and looked down embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I just….she wasn't responsible. It was my fault for letting my anger control my actions. I deserve any consequences."

"No! Philip, it wasn't your fault!" We all now turned to the girl at her sudden outburst. She seemed to withdraw into herself a little at all the attention but stood her ground. "He was provoked. By George Eacker."

This caught the man's attention as he started to lean forward, his elbows resting on his knees.

"Really? So, technically Eacker started the fight?" The girl nodded. "Yes. He was bothering me at our lunch table and Philip tried to defend me. Eacker then started to taunt him into a fight. Slowly the surrounding people started to follow his lead. They provoked him." she said this all with an air of confidence, not one stutter in her speech. Hmm, I like her. Philip chose a nice girl to befriend on the first day.

The man listened intently. Then he stood up and turned to Philip. "Is that true?"

Philip was hesitant, but he nodded in confirmation. "Yeah."

The man hummed before looking at Eliza and I. "I will be right back with the determined verdict." he said with an official tone before walking to the back and disappearing behind a door.

I turned to Philip, "So you got in a fight during lunch and punched a kid on your first day?"

He grimaced but nodded his head slightly, avoiding my gaze.

I chuckled with caused him to look up surprised, "I was just like you when I was younger." I said with a smile. Philip smiled widely back.

"Ahem, Alexander? Can we talk outside for a moment?"

 _I knew this was coming…_

I nodded mutely as I stood up to follow the woman to my doom.

Once we were outside she wiped around to face me. "Eliza…."

"Alexander."

"You have invented a new kind of stupid. I cannot _believe you!_ Your son gets into a fight at school where he could have gotten seriously hurt and you don't even pick up your phone?! Philip could have been in a much worse state, he could have been sent to the hospital! And you wouldn't have known because you ignored your phone for an hour! Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

I gulped and tried to find the courage to respond. "S-sorry Eliza. It was an accident, I swear."

She just sighed deeply and look back inside at Philip through the window.

"Just don't let it happen again, Alexander. I hate feeling like I'm the only one there for him. I don't want there to be a day he needs me and I won't be there. He would be all alone…." she said this all with a shaky breath turning away from me.

"Oh 'Liza…" I walked forward and hugged her tightly. "I'm really sorry, I am. I won't let it happen again. Philip will never be alone." I whispered with a kiss to her head.

She took a deep breath and stepped away from the hug. "I know….We should probably go back inside."

I nodded and followed her back in.

"I'll consider it Pippi."

"Hey! Don't call me—"

The last part of that sentence was cut off as we entered the room. Philip moved back to his original seat from where he had moved closer to the girl. He was blushing profusely, but the girl only smirked.

 _Hmm, suspicious…._

 _Also, Pippi?_

I raised an eyebrow at him but he only evaded eye contact again. He was very interested in his fingers today.

Before Eliza and I could question him, the man came back in with a smile on his face.

"Good News is he doesn't get suspended or in school suspension—"

"Yes!" We all turned to see a blushing Philip slowly put down his hand from what had likely been a fist bump. I heard a small chuckle and looked over to the girl who caught my gaze and began to blush.

Yeah, I'm going to have a talk with my son after this is over.

"I'm glad you're so excited." the man said with a look of amusement. "The bad news is we are going to ask that Mr. Hamilton will be taken home for the rest of the school day. We don't want to risk him disrupting the school day of the other students again. Even if it was on accident." he added as Philip began to protest.

I was upset that he would have to go through the trouble of orientation again but there was nothing we could do.

"Alright, We understand. Philip, let's go." Eliza said standing up and walking out the door. As she got to the door she looked back at me.

"Oh, right!" I said with a sheepish smile as I followed them out.

We walked out the doors and started down the stairs to the parking lot.

Then I saw a face that I didn't expect to see.

"Burr? What are you doing here? I thought I left you at the office." I asked with confusion.

He seemed a little out of breath and frantic, an abnormal look for him.

"Hey, Hamilton. I'd love to chat but apparently, my daughter got into some trouble at school."He said and started up the stairs. Suddenly I realized why the girl looked so familiar.

"Wait, Theodosia?" we looked at Philip as he gazed at Burr with a look of realization similar to my own.

Burr furrowed his eyebrows in confusion pausing in his haste up the stairs. "Yes, and how do you know her?"

"She's my….friend?" he said sounding a bit unsure.

Burr looked down at something and I followed his gaze to see he was looking at Philips's hands… which were covered in bandages.

Burr started to walk down the steps, a threatening look clouding his usually calm face. "I swear to god if you laid a finger on my daughterㅡ"

"No! I was just defending her I swear!" Burr looked unsure but backed away as he began to resume his race up the stairs to his daughter. "Oh Theo, what did you get yourself into…" I heard him mumble as he disappeared behind the school doors.

I turned to Philip with a raised eyebrow. "So the first day of school you befriended my frenemy's daughter?" I asked folding my arms to appear threatening.

Eliza shoved my arm with a chuckle. "Stop Alexander. The boy's been through enough drama for the day."

I just raised my hands in an innocent gesture. "I was just curious as to what his intentions were!"

Philip blushed profusely at this. "Dad! I don't have any special 'intentions' I just wanted to make a friend." He said his voice rising in his frantic attempt to defend himself.

Eliza chuckled beside me. " Sure sweetheart, sure." She said patting his shoulder as she shared a knowing look with me that said one thing. _Like we believe that for one second. He's totally got a crush._

Philip sputtered indignantly as he went on a rant of how they met and how it had nothing to do with his feelings. He really did sound just like me when I first met Eliza.

Once we got to Eliza's car, I realized I had to say goodbye and get back to my work.

"Okay, so I'll see ya later Pippi," I said giving him a hug. He hugged me back until he realized what I said and sprung back. "W-what?!" I just laughed and rumpled his hair.

I gave Eliza a hug as well. Right before she pulled away she whispered something in my ear, "Take care of yourself okay? Take a break every now and then." She smiled at me and pushed back a stray lock of hair from my face.

I smiled back and nodded. "Okay 'Liza. I'll try." Her smile widened as she got in the car with Philip. She started to pull out before rolling down the window and looking back at me. "Are you sure you don't want a ride? It's honestly no trouble." I shook my head, "No, I'll be alright. You two go on." She looked hesitant but nodded rolling up the window.

I waved as they drove away before starting the 10-minute walk back to work.

* * *

(Theodosia POV)

As his parents walked out, I turned to Phillip now that we were alone.

"Hey…" I started off a little unsure of what to say.

He turned to face me and moved over to a closer seat. He smiled and replied the same, "Hey…"

We both started to chuckle at how awkward we were.

"Well, I just wanted to say thank you for defending me," I said trying to keep my voice confident to hide how shy I was feeling inside.

"Oh of course! I couldn't let you be thrown under the bus because of me."

I've finally figured out his type. He is the type of person that always rushes to apologize for things that aren't even his fault. He also seemed to be quick to defend others even if it doesn't involve him.

I wish I could be that brave.

He seemed to be a mixture of his parents. He had his mother's kind, but strict nature. He probably had a few younger siblings to attribute to that as well. He also had the passionate nature of his father that was clearly evident during lunch today.

I did all of this evaluation in a quick few seconds so I kept the conversation flowing easily.

"You mean because of Eacker. It wasn't all your fault you know. Although, you did handle things impulsively."

He blushed at my statement and rubbed his back sheepishly. "Yeah, I tend to do that a lot. I'm a protective person."

"Hmm, so what made you so protective over me? We've only rarely known each other for an hour at most."

He started to blush quickly. It spread from the tips of his ears into his face blending into the numerous freckles. I wonder how many he had…?

I shook myself out of my thoughts just in time to hear his answer.

"Well, I couldn't let him treat you, or anyone, like that. It's against my morals to just sit there and watch."

I became quiet as I started to feel guilty for letting him get taken away like he was some violent angsty teenager earlier. Even though he had acted a bit like one.

"Um, Theo—I mean Theodosia? Are you still with me?"

I looked up startled but relaxed as I remembered I was talking to someone. "Sorry, I just was lost in thought I guess. And you can call me Theo, Philip."

He still seemed unconvinced. "Are you sure it wasn't something I said?"

Yes.

"No, I was just…. thinking over what punishment they had planned. They should lay off on you. It was really Eacker's fault."

He shrugged.

"I don't know. But I'll take what I get. Even if Eacker started it, I finished it." He said with a sigh as he gazed out the window watching the people pass by.

No matter how much I was compelled to, I couldn't argue with that logic. I wonder why I feel like I should. He did punch him when he could have left it alone. Possibly there's just something about his protective nature over others that makes me feel like I need to protect him too. Or maybe….nope nevermind, that wouldn't make any sense.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied following his gaze to look out the window.

After a minute of awkward, yet somewhat comforting, silence Philip spoke up again.

"Um, Theo? Would you, I don't know…." He mumbled that last part out as he fiddled with the bandages I put around his knuckles at the nurse's office. He seemed nervous, well more so than before.

"Hmm?" I gave him my full attention leaning forward to hear his response.

He took a deep breath and faced me completely. His amber green eyes staring at me intensely. They took my breath away and annoyed me to no end. Same thing really.

"Would you like to maybe hang out tomorrow? I'm going out with some friends and I thought it would be cool if you'd come too," he said this all in a rush but didn't back down.

"Hmm…" I thought over the idea twirling a lock of hair that escaped my once neat ponytail. I do that when I'm nervous. Why am I nervous?

With every passing second, he seemed to look less confident than before until he was tapping his foot quickly avoiding eye contact completely.

I decided to put him out of his misery.

"Well I'll have to ask my dad but, I'll consider it Pippi," I added my nickname at the end to relieve some tension. He began to blush lightly as a giddy smile covered his face, although he tried to hide it. I laughed and winked causing him to blush even more and sputter indignantly.

"Hey! Don't call me—" He stopped talking and looked to the doorway.

His parents walked in and looked over at us, but mostly at Philip who was avoiding eye contact for what felt like the fifth time that day.

He moved back to his original seat by his mother all the while I only smirked at his discomfort.

His parents eyed us in suspicion and his father looked like he was about to speak when the man, who I believe is our principal, came back in with a smile on his face.

"Good news is he doesn't get suspended or in school suspension—"

"Yes!" We all turned to see a blushing Philip slowly put down his hand from what had likely been a fist bump. I gave a small chuckle at his childish behavior. It was kinda cute. Wait no, I meant annoying. Whatever. I felt someone watching me and looked up to make eye contact with Philip's father. I blushed and looked back down suddenly wishing my hair was out so I could hide behind it.

"I'm glad you're so excited." the principal said with a look of amusement. "The bad news is we are going to ask that Mr. Hamilton will be taken home for the rest of the school day. We don't want to risk him disrupting the school day of other again. Even if it was on accident." he added as Philip began to protest.

I could understand why he was upset that he would have to go through the trouble of orientation again but there was nothing we could do.

It seemed Philip's mother came to the same conclusion. "Alright, We understand. Philip, let's go," she said standing up and walking to the door. As she got to the door she looked back at his father that was still seated. At first, he looked confused before his eyes flashed in realization.

"Oh, right!" he said with a sheepish smile as he followed them out.

I waved to Philip on the way out and he waved back with a sheepish smile. I wonder why he seems embarrassed, his parents are great so it can't be them.

When they left the principal turned to me. "Well, we expected your father to turn up as well but he seems to be bus―"

"Wait! I'm here!" I jumped startled as my father rushed inside the school. I've never seen him so frantic, well at least not in a long time.

He walked in and tried to straighten his attire. "Hello sir, my name is Aaron Burr and I got a call about my daughter Theodosia? Is she alright?" he said this all quickly as he walked in the room.

I sighed and responded, "I'm alright dad." He whipped around and finally noticed me in the corner.

"Oh thank god. I was worried you had been hurt. I heard there was a fight and then I got the call so I just assumed―"

"I'm fine dad, really," I said interrupting his rambling.

He sighed in relief and held me in a tight hug. After a few seconds, things started getting awkward. "Um, dad? You can let me go now." I said trying to pull back. He finally seemed to notice he was practically crushing me and let go. "Oh, uh, sorry sweetheart," he said with a sheepish smile. We heard someone clear their throat and turned to see the principal watching us in amusement.

My dad quickly turned to face him. "Uh, sorry about that. What did you call me here for if she wasn't hurt?" he asked as we all took a seat.

"Well, your daughter was involved in a fight―"

"What do you mean? I thought she wasn't injured. Is she injured?!" My dad started to check my arms and temperature. I squirmed trying to get away. " _Dad_. I told you I'm fine!" I said pulling my arms out of his reach. He seemed unsure but stopped trying to check me over as he turned back to the principal.

"Well, what I meant was she was at the scene of a fight between two boys, one new junior and the other a returning senior. Apparently, the elder of the two was bothering your daughter." At this my father's eyes flashed in anger but before he could speak the man continued. "We hope that it was nothing more than that, but will reconvene to discuss the issue tomorrow. The boy is injured at the moment with a broken nose so it would be best to leave him be." My dad nodded along to this, thankfully containing his emotions before he embarrassed me even more.

When the principal was done he got up and shook hands with my father who rose as well.

"Thank you for coming. Hopefully, this was all just a misunderstanding that can be handled swiftly. Your daughter is free to go back to class. The next period starts in ten minutes."

Dad smiled and agreed, "Yes, and it was nice to meet you. Although I hope we can avoid any further encounters under such circumstances." They both chuckled before we left the room leaving the principal busy inside.

I went up to the front desk to get an excused absence pass, my father tagging along behind me. Once we walked out of the front office, my father started his parental interrogation.

"Oh Theo, I'm so glad you're alright! What happened? Why were you involved in a fight? Did you do something? Oh, no please tell me you didn't. Remember our phrase—"

"Talk less, smile more. I know dad. I didn't do anything to cause it, I swear.

He sighed but nodded, "Okay, but I still need to know what exactly happened and how you are involved. I want to know all the details."

And so I reluctantly told him about what happened. However, I left out how I met Philip, but that should matter, right? I mean, he just a flirty person. It didn't actually mean anything.

At the end of my spiel, my dad looked both relieved and upset which was confusing to interpret. "So the younger boy punched the older one that was harassing you in the face? And all after you just met him?" I nodded hesitantly, not sure where this was going.

He smiled widely, "Well I like him already! I can't wait to meet him." I was surprised by this response, but also ecstatic. I'm not sure why I wanted him to like Philip so badly, but apparently, I did.

Then I remembered the invitation Philip suggested.

"Oh, by the way, he actually invited me to meet his other friends tomorrow after school. Could I go?" I asked trying to disguise my hope with a tone of little interest.

My father took upon a thoughtful look before shrugging. "I don't see why not. He seems like a respectable young man. Just remember to text me how long you will be out and where you're going to be so I know if I should pick you up or not." I nodded along, internally celebrating. "Cool, thanks, dad," I said with a smile. He smiled back and we started to walk down the hall to my class.

Just as we were nearing the stairs, my dad turned to face me. "I almost forgot to ask. Who is this guy? What's his name?" I blushed as I realized I didn't tell my dad his name yet. "Oh yeah sorry. His name is Philip, Philip Hamilton I believe." My dad stopped walking. "Wait, Philip Hamilton? As in Alexander's kid?" he asked with a tone of surprise as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Uh, yeah," I said confused, my dad had mentioned Hamilton before but I wasn't sure if that was his dad or not. It would make a lot of sense though.

My dad seemed lost in thought as his face went blank. "Hmm, well, be careful with him then. Especially if he's anything like his father."

I frowned at this but nodded. "Sure dad."

He gave me a small smile and hugged me tightly before turning around and walking backward to leave. "See you later Theo! Have a good day at school!" he said waving his hand. I smiled and waved back, "Okay! Bye! Enjoy work!" He nodded before turning back around to walk to the school entrance.

I started to climb up the stairs wondering what my dad meant by 'Especially if he's anything like his father.'

* * *

 **So that's the end of the chapter! I've already started the next chapter so that should hopefully be up soon. Remember to fav, follow, or review!**

 **~PJO andHP4life**


	5. The Hurricane

**I totally understand if you just decide to skip this and read the chapter. This update was** ** _way_** **later than I planned it would be. So I hope you enjoy it, even though it is a bit short. (SPOILER ALERT: This will start with fluff but will** ** _not_** **end that way.) Enjoy!**

* * *

(King George III POV)

"I cannot believe this!" I yelled banging my fist on my desk.

The man in front of me jumped back, hiding his eyes behind his slightly overgrown curly chestnut hair.

I frowned as I felt a twinge of guilt.

"I know it's not your fault Sammy it's just—" I sighed rubbing my left hand down my face as my other was still clenched tightly in a fist on the desk.

"I wanted, no, we needed to go to Ohio today! Now because of this stupid hurricane Olympia we can't board the plane we booked 18 days ago!"

Samuel relaxed a little but left his head down.

"I'm sorry sir. There was no way around it. With these winds…."

He was interrupted as a branch hit the windows behind my desk causing us both to jump.

I sighed deeply and took out my laptop. I looked up to see Seabury still standing in front of my desk, stiff as a military private. "You can sit down you know." He looked startled but scrambled to get a seat.

I chuckled at how nervous he still was around me. I mean, we've been friends for over 3 years now yet he still treats me like I'm royalty and his only a servant. I mean, I technically I am from royal lineage or something but still.

I shook myself trying to focus and tried to get my mind off of my problems by reading the news on my laptop. My interest was drawn to an article about me. It was done by someone named Alexander Hamilton. Hmm, I've heard of him. He was supposedly a NY Times prodigy journalist. I bet he wrote some amazing article describing myself as a brilliant candidate for president. I started to read the first few paragraphs hoping for something to calm my nerves.

 _George King III, almost everyone has heard of the name. Whether by his presidential campaign or his life as a celebrity in one of the most popular reality TV shows, The Royals. He is well known for his television charm and charisma. However, as a presidential candidate, he is well known for his bigotry and white supremacy beliefs. He is well known for his offending racist comments and his discrimination against many of the immigrants in the nation. I can relate to them as I am one myself. We need a president who can be for all the people, not just a part of the population that has money to spare._

"EXCUSE ME?!"

Seabury practically fell over at my sudden outburst. "S-sorry sir, but um what are you talking about? Did I do something? If so, I'm terribly sorry! It's the chair, isn't it? It's too close, I knew it was. I'll just move over to the door if you'd like—"

"No, Seabury you're fine," I said referring to his last name in an effort to calm him. He usually is more jumpy and shy when I call him Sammy for some reason.

Once he sat back down, I slowly relaxed back in my chair, placing my hands over my eyes.

"Ugh, I need an Aspirin." I groaned.

I heard something being placed in front of me and opened my eyes to see Seabury had placed a pill bottle on my desk along with a water bottle from my mini fridge.

"Thanks, Sammy," I said before taking two with a swig of water.

"Of course sir," he replied with a small smile.

After I swallowed, I looked out the window behind me to see the winds picking up.

The autumn leaves were thrown out of their neat piles to fly recklessly in the wind. The rain came down hard causing a mist to cover the ground.

 _To be honest, I don't think I would actually risk flying today myself. I want to be president, not dead._

"Sir?"

I turned to face my soon to be Vice President.

"Yes?" I replied turning away from the window fully to give him my complete attention.

"Well," he started now with a slight blush on his face. "We should probably go to a hurricane shelter. That way you can stay safe and seem like a caring presidential candidate."

I frowned as I thought about the idea.

"No…I'll wait until the eye of the storm or something. When it's calmer, I'll check on the poor, middle class and such. Maybe kiss a few babies and offer them toilet paper or something because of the storm."

He shrugged but didn't object to the idea. "Yes, sir." He replied with a small nod as he typed a reminder on his iPhone.

Once he was done, Seabury looked up to the window, eyeing the bad weather with caution. "Uh, sir? Maybe we should go back to your mansion." I followed his gaze to see the trees practically being ripped apart by the harsh wind. "Yeah, you're probably right. Don't want to get hit by a fallen tree limb." I said with a lighter tone at the end to brighten the mood.

Suddenly, I heard a loud crack and turned around to see a large tree branch, from one of the trees planted around the building for a natural appeal, falling towards me.

I paled and was frozen in fear as it seemed to fall in slow motion towards my stiff body. My only thought as I waited to be hit was, "Crap I Jinxed it."

I felt arms wrapped around me and the next thing I know I'm on the floor with a smaller body on top of me.

It takes me exactly 5 seconds to realize 5 important things.

1\. I really hate jinxes.

2\. A tree limb could have killed me.

3\. Seabury saved me.

4\. Now he is on top of me. And he's really close.

5\. He has nice eyes.

A second later, Seabury blushes profusely and quickly scrambled off of me. Before I could stand up, he began apologizing at rapid speed.

"Are you alright?! I'm so sorry! I only meant to— I was just trying to help! I swear nothing else! I never meant to— I mean, I wouldn't even dare think— At least um…. Not without your consent! Wait no, I meant—"

"Sa— Ehem, Seabury it's okay. You can relax. I know it was an accident." I said placing a, what I hoped was comforting, hand on his shoulder.

I felt the tension leave his shoulders and sighed in relief, although he was still blushing and refused to look at me.

"Also, uh, thanks for saving me," I said with my voice sounding less confident than usual.

He must have noticed since he finally faced me with a small smile.

"Of course sir. Now, I think we should go."

I nodded in agreement as we walked out of my office to my elevator door.

We took the elevator to the ground floor. It was, as expected, incredibly awkward after the whole fall-on-top-of-each-other scene.

Once we got out of that horrid compartment, I started over to the doorman telling him I was done for the night and he could go home. He started saying a bunch of thank yous because of the storm and his family or something, I wasn't really listening to his petty problems.

After he finished, or more like when I decided he should finish, I walked out to my limo. Sammy went over to the other side and got in as well.

"Where to sir?" my driver (I think his name was Steve or something?) asked looking at us in his rearview mirror.

"My mansion of course. And be quick about it, I don't want to be out in this storm any longer than need be."

He nodded and started to drive off probably surpassing the speed limit, but what do I care. I want to be at home watching Mean Girls as soon as possible.

* * *

(Angelica POV)

The door opened to my office and I looked up to see my little sister walk in.

"Pegster! It's been so long. How's the new job?"

I got up to embrace her, careful of the wet umbrella she was holding.

I hugged her tight and caught a whiff of her usual sugar cookie perfume.

When I pulled back, I saw her pout although she couldn't hide the smile that was pulling at her mouth.

"Angie! I told you how much I hate that nickname!"

I smirked in amusement. "And I've told you how much I hate being called Angie, yet here we are."

She wrinkled her nose but could help a smile.

We walked over to my desk, me taking a seat behind it while she sat in front.

"So how's the new job?" I started conversationally as I sipped what was left of my afternoon coffee.

She sprung up in her seat as her eyes took on a look of excitement. "Oh, Angelica it's amazing! The kids are so sweet! They're not at all rude, and always follow instructions. I can't understand why people always complain about this job. I find it amazing! And I can help others too!"

I smiled as she went on a spiel about the classes she taught. I could tell she really liked her job.

"I honestly could never do it. I would probably kill someone less than an hour after the first bell rung." I said with a shrug. "I'm not good with kids, as you well know."

She chuckled as I referred to our childhood. I often got annoyed with the younger kids at school, and the older ones. Well, basically with almost everyone at school in general.

"You were always so strict. You were supposed to be the fun one!" Peggy whined, referring to how we would sneak out to the mall sometimes when I was supposed to be babysitting. She would go shopping for clothes with Eliza while I would usually start arguing with some of the idiots that would hit on me.

I smirked, "I wouldn't be talking if I were you miss 'Daddy said not to go downtown'." She pouted at my teasing. Sticking her bottom lip out with hurt puppy dog eyes.

"You weren't very outgoing back then."

She gasped in fake offense. "How dare you?! I'll have you know I was very outgoing!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, just not when sneaking out the house on school nights." I laughed as she relented with her arms crossed.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home, grading kindergarten art projects or something?" I asked. She seemed to suddenly remember something important as she shot out of her chair.

"That's right! I came over here to pick you up! There's a hurricane going on out there!" she said grabbing her forgotten umbrella.

"What?! When did this happen?" I asked confused and slightly panicked.

Peggy looked back at me in shock. "How did you not know?! It's been on the news for a week and it's horrible out there! I came here to take you home." She said moving to grab my hand and pull me to the other side of the desk.

I was still in shock trying to process the fact that there was a raging hurricane outside and I didn't even notice.

We rushed down out of my office and down the stairs. After leaving my office for the first time in 4 hours, I realized just how empty the place was. Usually the courthouse is constantly busy, but currently, I couldn't see a single person in the lengthy halls. I can't believe I was so wrapped up in my work that I didn't realize….

When we got outside, I saw just how bad it was.

When I first got to work it was sunny and peaceful outside, now it looked like it was a second away from the apocalypse.

The sky was so dark it looked like it was night. The storm clouds clashed causing deafening chaos as the rain came down as knives, cold and unforgiving. I was immediately hit with a strong wind that seemed to grab at my clothes and hair yelling at me to go back inside to safety.

The storm drains began to overflow from the onslaught of water coming from the sky. And that was just the weather-caused destruction.

People were running a mess. The store windows nearby shattered as a man jumped for a useless TV.

Another guy starts fighting him for the TV seeming oblivious to the other five in the window display.

A woman runs with her crying baby trying to desperately get to shelter.

I move to help them but Peggy tugs on my arm.

I turn back to look at her in confusion when:

 _Snap!_

I turned to see a telephone pole coming down towards us.

Peggy's quick thinking saved me as she pulled me out of the way.

The force of the pull made us fall down only three feet away from the telephone pole.

I was staring at it in shock trying to recover from my life and death experience when Peggy was already on her feet trying to tug me away.

"Come on Ang! We have to move before the frayed telephone and electrical lines start to spark a fire or something!" she said somehow keeping her voice assertive rather than frantic.

As we ran through the streets to her car, I was amazed by her ability to stay calm at a time like this.

"Pegs, how are you so calm?! I'm practically freaking out!"

She smiled at me while we both got into her minivan.

"Volunteering with the fire department in high school paid off," she said as she started the car and drove off onto the amazingly empty road, excluding a few frantic, running pedestrians. Apparently, everyone was too busy running around to actually think about driving to a safe place.

 _Well, that's the human race for you._

I had just heard the click of my seatbelt as Peggy floored the gas and the car zoomed off up the hill. She seemed to have a laser focus on the road only breaking to beep at any jaywalkers, which was basically occurred every few minutes.

"Angelica, look up the highest point in New York City on your iPhone. We need to get as high above sea level as possible."

I nodded, unable to form a complete sentence due to the stress of the situation.

Just as I turned on my phone, Peggy made a sharp turn. I yelped as I tried to grab onto my seat to stay balanced.

When I turned around, I saw a tree lying on the right lane of the road we were previously driving in.

As soon as my phone was on, it immediately started beeping loudly, the bright red screen displaying the words:

HURRICANE WARNING! CATEGORY 3!

I paled and turned to Peggy trying to keep my suddenly frantic breathing under control.

"It's a Category three Hurricane…"

Her eyes flickered showing her true concern before returning to the calm assertive persona as she turned left. "We can worry about that later. First, we need to find a place for shelter."

We passed a few skyscrapers before I started to feel like I was tilting back. We were gaining higher ground.

A few skyscrapers flew past my window before I could clearly see the Hudson River.

I was used to seeing it shine in the sunlight when I first moved here and toured the city of Manhattan. Then it had sparkles and shimmered, a perfect image of beauty and peace. Now it seemed angry at the world and filled with pent-up tension as the usual ripples turned into bigger and bigger waves. The waves crashed against the land, seemingly trying to break it away bit by bit until it could join the other river and find peace and serenity in this urban city.

The waves reached higher and higher…. before receding.

Thank god. We're safe, well hopefully for at least a moment.

Then I saw something in the distance. It seemed to be a large cargo boat at first, but then I realized with a great shock that it was the water. It was forming the largest wave I've ever seen.

Then the city sirens started to blare.

My mouth dropped open as my mind busied itself trying to comprehend what was happening.

Then my phone started blaring again with a cursed red screen broadcasting the words:

 **STORM SURGE ALERT!**

"Holy sh—"

Peggy swerved and I screamed as we almost crashed into the side rail protecting us from crashing into the water.

I reached wildly for something to grab, my hand taking hold of the side of my seat as we go back to the road. I sighed in relief trying to calm my rapidly beating heart as I laid my forehead against my passenger seat window.

"Oh my god."

I turned around to face Peggy, she was as pale as a sheet as she focused on the road even more. I started to ask what was wrong, well other than this entire situation when I heard something.

It was a soft churning, but it was gradually getting louder. It sounded far off behind us.

I glanced in the rearview mirror and gasped in slight horror.

The wave that I saw in the distance only a minute ago was now much closer and seemed to be only minutes away from crashing through skyscrapers behind us as it flooded the streets of New York.

If I thought my breathing was frantic before, now I was straight up hyperventilating.

"No, no, no, no, no! Turn! Get us off the road! We need to get out of here now!"

Peggy ignored my exclamations, laser-focused on the road as more and more pedestrians gathered in confusion and fear.

Someone must have finally noticed the wave because a shrill scream was heard.

I saw a young girl screaming as she pointed to the wave, shaking in terror.

The others turned to see what made her scream before having terrified reactions themselves. The people of Manhattan blindly ran to get as far away from the wave as possible.

So this is what it feels like to be in a disaster movie.

As if on cue, the water finally hit the streets flooding the buildings around us. Some of the weaker ones even began to topple down.

"Dear Lord…."

The buildings acted as dominoes as the smaller ones knocked into the taller skyscrapers. The tense atmosphere was filled with screams of terror, glass breaking, and cement being crushed.

I heard the loud eerie sound of steel slowly bending and looked up to see a building leaning towards the car.

"Peggy!" She glanced in her rearview mirror and slammed on the gas as she turned onto a more deserted road. The building crashed down sending up a cloud of dust from the cement, barely missing our car.

I tried to calm my breathing as we sped down the narrow road.

I held onto my seatbelt as we accelerated. At first, we were barely going 50 mph. Now we were nearing 70 mph.

I turned around to see that water was a lot closer and moving toward us fast.

 _Oh god no. Please! I'm not ready to die yet! And my family! Peggy can't die! And Eliza has Philip! Oh, please let us all make it out of this. Please!_

I prayed as hard as I could, hoping that somehow against all odds that we would find our way out of this storm.

 _Wait! Eliza!_

"Peggy! Have you contacted Eliza!?" I asked now, slightly apprehensive but still desperately wanting to hear about my other younger sister's fate.

For the first time since we went out into this storm, she looked completely terrified.

"Shit! I totally forgot to call her again! I called her twice, but it went straight to voicemail. She was staying late at the school today!"

I scrambled for my phone and hit her contact picture. The phone rang and rang but there was no answer. I started to leave a message. "Liza! Are you alright! God, I'm so stupid for not checking on you earlier! Please tell me you got to safety! Call me as soon as you can! I lov—"

"Holy shit, Angelica brace yourself!"

I turned around and my scream was muffled as the wave crashed into our car.

* * *

 **So... don't kill me. Please just tell me what you think! Hopefully, I can publish the next update soon. Maybe even sometime this weekend. Bye...**

 **~PJOandHP4life**


	6. We'll Find Our Way Out

**It took** ** _way_** **too long for me to write this! Mainly because I just went** ** _way_** **into detail. I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

(Eliza POV)

I sighed as I gathered the last of the essays together and put them in my bag.

 _And children complain about writing papers. Grading them is the true horror._

I blew a stray hair out of my face, too tired to fix my bun.

I stood up for the first time in two hours, stretching my arms to hear the satisfying crack of bones.

"You look exhausted."

I jumped up at the sudden noise but relaxed as I saw it was only Philip.

"Hey, sweetheart. What are you doing here?" I said ending the question with a yawn.

He smiled and walked over to a stand in front of my desk.

"I was just checking up on you. Making sure you got home alright."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Honey, I'm fine. I was just working a bit late grading papers."

Philip nodded absently as he took in my tired appearance. I must have looked pretty tired, I had been working a lot lately. With the government swarming schools with their new standardized tests and activities that won't even affect their grades while trying to make a lesson plan, my week has been pretty hectic. A flash of concern crossed across his face before he quickly schooled his features to appear calm.

I shrug and get back to putting my stuff away. He worries about me too much. I wish he could just relax sometimes and focus more on his youth, maybe make more friends.

I suppose it's our fault. Ever since the divorce, he's been more attentive of my well being. I was in a bad place then, but I'm better now. I can handle myself. I wish he believed so.

"Anyway," I couldn't keep thinking about this. Sad thoughts brought sad emotions which led to much worse. I looked back at my son to see him frowning as he checked something on his phone. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he had two lines showing between them. He pursed his lips as his eyes scanned down the screen.

"Uh, oh. What is it?" I asked trying for a lighter joking tone to hide my concern.

He looked back at me in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked pouting slightly.

I smiled before walking around my desk to be right in front of him.

"That's the face your father makes whenever he thinks too hard about something bothering him. So… what's wrong?"

He sighed and decided to just hand me his phone. "I'm just worried about this storm. At first, they said it would just be a tropical storm skirting by us on the coast, but now they say it might be—"

"A hurricane hitting New York." I finished reading from the news article he had on his browser.

He nodded as he moved to stand next to me.

Then the intercom came on.

" _All personnel should end all after-school events now! There is an emergency storm warning, and we want everyone safe. I repeat, cancel all events and return home now! School doors will be locked in 20 minutes."_

The intercom went off and I stared at Philip who stared back at me in concern. "Wow, I didn't know it was that bad…."

I frowned as I finished putting away the papers into their assigned folders and zipped up my laptop bag.

"Well, I guess we should go. Did you drive?" I ask as we walk out of the classroom and I fish for my keys.

He shook his head, "Nah I just walked. Thought I could use the exercise." I gave him a disbelieving look and glanced at his hands which he discretely hid in his pockets. I sighed as I found my keys and locked the door. We started walking down the hall when I decided to just confront him about it.

"Are you sure it isn't because your hands still hurt."

He tensed slightly before shrugging again. "It's fine, I can handle it."

I hummed but didn't question him. "Okay, just tell me if they feel sore and remember to sanitize them and refresh your bandage. You don't want to get an infection." I said in concern.

He nodded, "I will mom, you don't have to worry so much. I've learned my lesson."

 _Yeah, that's what you said last time._

I nodded along as we reached the front of the school.

Through the new windows, the school had been remodeled over the summer, we could see the storm. The wind was whipping around the tree branches causing the wood to bend harshly.

Leaves that started to fall early were being thrown around in the air. The sky was probably the scariest part. All of the clouds were dark and blocking the sun's valiant effort to bring light into the depressing scene.

"Woah, it got pretty bad out there," I said

"Yeah…"

I tore my eyes away from the unsettling scene and started walking towards the front office. "Come on, I need to ask for them to open the doors. They always look them after 3 o'clock."

 _Creek…._

I frowned, "Hey did you hear—"

 _Boom!_

I felt the ground shake and then was pushed to the ground as a wave of air flew over me. There was a crackling as the glass broke and shattered being pushed forward with the air.

I laid there in shock as glass fell on my back and I heard a faint ringing in my ear.

 _Philip!_

I tried to ignore the pain as I looked around for my son.

"Philip! Philip can you hear me!?"

I heard a groan to my left and tried to turn, wincing as a sharp pain flared in my side.

"Ugh...mom?"

I sagged in relief as I reached out my hand towards where I thought he was.

"I'm right here! Over to the right!"

"Argh, what happened?" he said in a gravelly voice.

I looked around but couldn't see much and it hurt to move. "I-I don't know… I think the windows shattered."

I could barely see over the dust in the air. What happened?

" _Hello? Is everyone alright?"_ A voice is heard from somewhere close probably the front office.

"I'm fine!" I yelled back even though my left side flared sharply in objection.

"I'm alright," shuffling could be heard from my left as Philip tried to move. "I just need to—ah! Everything hurts!"

"Philip?!" I said worry courses through my veins as I tried to move again, ignoring the pain, to get to my son.

" _Stay where you are! Help is coming!"_

Like hell, my son is in pain. I'm going to him.

After a few agonizing minutes of shuffling and groans of pain, I can see an outline of a body in front of me.

"Philip?" I ask trying to get closer. The body responds with a low groan of pain before speaking. "Yeah?"

I reach out to put a hand on his and felt something wet. I pull my hand back to see a dark liquid.

Blood.

I tried to stay calm, but my heart beat skyrocketed.

"Philip? Can you move?"

Another groan but I see his legs shift slightly.

"Yeah, I can move my legs."

I find some relief in that and nod. "Okay. Now, can you move your arms?"

He moved his left arm with ease. His right arm twitched and he let out a sharp cry.

"Ah! Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Philip!? What's wrong?" any relief I had disappeared as I looked at him in great concern and fear.

"I-I can move my left arm, but I think the right one is injured, possibly broken."

That explains the blood then.

"Mom? Are you alright?"

He's asking after my well being while he's here with a broken arm.

"I'm fine sweetie. Don't worry about me."

I heard footsteps and turn to my right to see two figures moving towards us.

"Are you two alright?" One of them comes closer and I see it's a young woman. She has some ash covering her face and hair, but no blood.

"Yes I'm fine, but my son here has an injured arm." She looked towards Philip and frowned at the sight of his bloody arm.

"Okay, can either of you walk?" asked another figure that looked like an older male. He had ash covering him as well although he was bleeding from his temple.

"Um, I think so…." I try to get up and thankfully am able to get into at least a sitting position, although my side was screaming in pain.

I grit my teeth and managed to push myself up a bit.

Seeing my struggle, the man steps forward and grabs my arm helping me to my feet. I see the other woman go to help Philip who is also struggling to get up.

"Thank you," I say as soon as I'm standing stable on my feet and hear my son echo the phrase towards the woman.

"No problem," he says and looks over from where I'm assuming they came from.

"We were in the office when it happened," he said.

"I was about to warn you to look out but it was too late, thankfully no one else was near the doors when it crashed down." said the woman.

"Yeah, what happened anyway?" Philip asked now walking to my side.

The two glanced at each other and the woman pointed behind us. "Just look for yourselves."

We turn around to see a huge oak tree. It sat surrounded by broken cement from the building entrance. The floor was covered in glass and leaves with a thin layer of dust, most likely from the cement.

The newly remodeled doors were destroyed, the tree lying on the bent steel with some larger glass shards littering the scene.

"Is that… the oak tree that was in front of the school?" Philip asks in astonishment.

"Yeah…" I answer barely noticing my own response as my eyes surveyed the damage.

The tree was big, it had been planted when the school was first built which had been about 25 years.

"How are we supposed to leave now?" Philip asked nudging a piece of glass with his converse.

"There are still some side and back exists around the school. They're electronically locked and should still be open."

The woman frowned, "Actually, we locked them early because of the storm." at our faces of dismay she quickly continued. "But they lock from the inside, so we should be good as long as there are no electrical problems," she said.

As soon as she finished speaking, the lights flickered. We all looked up hoping it was just a small falter in the lighting. After a few seconds, the lights stopped flickering and were stable.

There was a collective sigh of relief as everyone slouched.

"Phew! It's just a small flicker, nothing to worry ab—"

That's when the lights all shut off.

We looked at each other in fear.

"Uh, don't panic everyone. It's probably only a small system failure from the tree crash."

We all knew that none of us believed that.

The man walked over some glass towards the office saying he would check the computers.

He was in there for only two minutes but it felt like half an hour.

He came walking out with a grim face and confirmed what we already knew had happened.

"I'm sorry to say the computers aren't turning on. The power has gone out."

* * *

(Peggy POV)

Ugh...everything hurts.

My head was pounding as I blinked my eyes blearily.

Where even am I?

I tried to move my head but that sent sharp pain immediately through my skull.

Okay then. Move slowly.

I tried to move my left arm but something was restraining it. Thankfully, I could move my right arm enough to touch my head. I pulled my hand back to see a blurry hand in front of my eyes. I blinked a few more times and could finally see my hand clearly enough to recognize the blood.

Well… that can't be good.

I groaned as I felt down my body, grateful to feel no sharp objects lodged in my torso. There was a seat belt holding down my body and everything came rushing back to me.

 _Angelica scrambled for her phone and hit Eliza's contact picture. The phone rang and rang but there was no answer. She started to leave a message. "Liza! Are you alright! God, I'm so stupid for not checking on you earlier! Please tell me you got to safety! Call me as soon as you can! I lov—"_

 _I turned my focus back to the road and saw a wave like no other heading right towards us. Oh dear god above…_

" _Holy shit, Angelica brace yourself!"_

 _She turned around and her scream was muffled as the wave crashed into our car._

Everything after that was a blur of rushing water and a burning in my lungs as I had to hold my breath for a long amount of time.

 _Thank god for those swimming lessons in 3rd grade!_

I tried to regain my bearings and focused on what was in front of me. I could hear a faint ringing in my right ear. There was something hanging down from above blocking my vision. I reached forward and felt my hair.

 _Odd._

I looked up to see the roof of the car soaked with water and at the bottom were glass shards and a few pens, coins, leaves, and branches.

Then I looked out my window and saw that the ground, or what I assumed was the ground as it was completely covered in foggy water, was not at all in the right place. Well, unless the sky became gravel. It was like the world had turned upside down.

 _What the…_

The car had been upturned.

I heard a groan to my right and looked over to see Angelica.

She wasn't in much better shape than me from what I could see. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were covered in muddy water… or what I hoped was muddy water.

"Angelica? Ange, can you hear me?" I called out, my voice was a bit raspy but I guess that was to be expected after being hit by a storm surge.

She groaned again but I saw her eyes flutter. "Pegs? Is that you?"

I sighed in relief. "Yeah, it's me, sis. Are you alright?"

She squinted down at her body. "Uh... Yeah, I think so. Are _you_ alright?"

"I'm fine my head hurts a bit. I can move alright from what I can tell. I just can't move my left arm, I think it's trapped."

 _Creak…_

The van shifted and the water rippled.

 _Well, that can't be good._

Angelica looked around to see that we were upturned in my van who knows where.

"What… How did this happen?"

"I can't fully remember… I think I might have hit my head. The last thing that I remember is getting hit with that wave."

She nodded in understanding, or well she started to nod before the car shifted again.

"Ugh! Why does it keep doing that?"

I looked up, well down, for my phone and saw it shimmering under the water.

"Well, my phone's probably useless. Do you have yours?"

Angie lifted her right hand to show that throughout the entire ordeal with the wave she had kept it tightly in her hand.

"Wow, impressive…"

She shrugged. "I honestly think that as soon as the wave hit I probably involuntarily clenched up and so my phone didn't float off."

"Well can you see if you can call 911? If not call Eliza." she nodded and started to dial a number on her phone.

I looked around and tried to survey our surroundings.

It was dark, darker than it had been before the storm surge. So we could either be in a shaded area or the sky got darker as more clouds rolled in.

There was also the sound of water dripping that seemed to be coming from every direction.

That could be a problem.

"Hello?" I looked to my side to see Angelica with the phone to her face. "Hello? This is an emergency call. My name is Angelica Schuyler and I'm s-stuck in a car with my sister Peggy in our car that got upturned. Please send help!" she paused waiting to hear feedback.

All I heard was some muffled static.

"... Is anyone there?"

Still, nothing.

"Tell them we were last in the Hamilton Heights… do you remember the street we were on?"

I said as I racked my memory for any sign we passed.

"I think it was Riverside Drive?" she whispered. I nodded, "Yeah I think so."

"Okay, uh, we were last on Riverside Drive? In the Hamilton Heights. But we've probably been moved quite a bit by the recent storm surge."

There was still just static as we both desperately waited for someone, anyone to respond.

"Come on… come on." I mumbled under my breath.

Then we heard a sound.

"H-hello? T-t-this is 911. What is y-your em-emergency?" A male's voice came through. Although, it was scratchy and broken apart. At least it was there.

"Hi! Oh, thank god. Um, okay... This is an emergency call. My name is Angelica Schuyler and I'm stuck in a car with my sister Peggy in our car that got upturned. We were last on Riverside Drive in the Washington Heights? We were hit by a storm surge. Please send help!"

"T-the Wash-shington H-Heights? D-do you see a-any sign of w-where you a-are n-n-now?"

"Uh…" We looked around but couldn't see anything from where we were.

"We can't really tell, it's pretty dark wherever we are."

I sighed and tried to get a better view, but I still couldn't see anything.

I have to undo my seatbelt if I want to get a better look.

"Hey," I called out getting Angelica's attention.

"What is it Pegs? I'm kinda busy right now."

"I'm just going to undo my seat belt."

She frowned but nodded. "Okay… well, be careful." She then proceeded to talk to the person on the other end of the line.

I looked down at my seat belt, I could reach it since my right arm was still mobile. I easily unlatched the buckle.

"Woah!" I stumbled a bit as my body fell forward a bit. The car jolted and some more water spilled onto the car roof.

I now had my right hand on the cracked windshield. My left hand, which I now realize was previously trapped by my seatbelt, was on the ceiling to keep my head from hitting the roof. My legs were still beneath the steering wheel as I held my weight.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Angelica asked still holding the phone in her hand.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Are they sending help?" I asked from my somewhat awkward position.

"Yeah, they'll be here in— Hey when do you think they can get here? Oh okay— In 20-30 minutes depending on the foot traffic."

"Okay then." I tried to free my legs from under the wheel, but it was difficult.

I start to crawl forward and the next thing I know I'm crouched on the windshield.

"Woah!" I yelped and tried to get back to my previous position but the windshield started to form more cracks, so I stopped.

"Peggy! Are you alright?" Angelica said hastily putting her phone away.

"Um… I think so." Then more cracks formed. "Or maybe not."

Angelica started to unbuckle her seat belt. "Be careful! The windshield is cracking!"

"I'm trying to move but I can't"

"Wait, I'll help in a second…"

More water leaks from the windshield.

I crouched still, waiting to see if the windshield would break under my weight. After a few seconds, cracks stopped forming and I sighed in relief.

"Okay, I think I'm alright, but we need to get out of this car," I said looking over at my door.

It was dark, but I don't think anything was blocking the door. "Hey Angelica, try to see if you can open your door, I'll do the same with mine."

"Okay. Be careful."

I crawled over to the door and tried my best to open the door being upside down.

I heard a click and the door moved out a bit.

 _Success!_

But the door only moved a bit before being blocked by something on the other side that was out of sight.

 _Or maybe not._

I groaned and tried pushing a bit harder, but the door would budge.

"Okay, so my door won't open."

"Neither will mine," Angelica responded after a few seconds.

"Okay… We'll have to get out by our windows."

While both windows did have quite a few cracks, they wouldn't roll down. They were still mostly intact and it would definitely hurt to punch cracked glass with my bare hands. Not only that, but the force would probably cause the windshield to break underneath me and I don't feel like crouching in broken glass.

"Hey, Pegs?" Angelica called out.

"Yeah?"

"Do you still have the emergency flashlight I gave you last Christmas?"

I frowned in confusion. Where was she going with this? "Uh yeah."

I pointed under my seat and after a bit of struggling, she found it.

It was a yellow bulky flashlight she gave me for emergencies. I remember she explicitly told me to keep it in my car, although I don't know why…

"No offense Angie, but a flashlight seems pretty useless to get out. I don't even know if there are batteries in there."

She glared at me and took it out of the box, which I had neglected to take it out of.

"This 'useless flashlight' actually acts as a multipurpose car emergency tool."

I gasped at her.

"Why didn't you tell me that?!"

Angelica rolled her eyes. " I did actually but you were too busy ogling your other presents to notice. I thought you would have at least read the instructions by now."

She passed the tool to me and I examined it for the first time. Angelica was right, it not only served as a flashlight, but had a blade to cut seat belts, a magnetic base, and—

"Yes! This has a hammer to break windows! I really should have checked this out earlier!"

"Well no time right now, just break your window and then pass it to me!"

I focused back on the task at hand and gripped the hammer tightly. I tried hitting the center of the glass but only managed a few cracks.

I tried again only to get the same result.

"Try aiming for the corners," Angelica said from behind me.

I shrugged and aimed a hard hit at the top right corner.

The glass shattered and I shuffled back to avoid getting cut by the many shards. After a few more hits, I took out most of the glass so that I could get through without getting scraped up.

"Okay, now I'll crawl out the window and you can break yours." I handed her the hammer and crawled forward. I winced as I got a few cuts on my knees, but made it through. I stumbled down onto concrete and nearly hit my head on a concrete pillar. It must have been what was blocking the door.

I heard a crash behind me and turned to see Angelica crawling out her own window.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked once she got to her feet standing next to a similar pillar.

She looked down at herself. "Yeah, I'm fine just got a few scratches on my arms from the glass."

I nodded and took in our surroundings. We were in a parking garage. There a few cars in similar positions as ours and others were crashed into each other.

"Is anyone out there?!" I yelled out across the garage.

There was a sudden light and I turned to Angelica holding the flashlight up.

"Hello?" a hesitant voice spoke out.

Angelica aimed the light to the left and I saw a car with a moving figure inside.

I started walking towards it with Angelica on my heels.

When we got there, I saw that the hood of the car was being crushed under a fallen pillar.

Once I was close enough, I bent down to look in the backseat window. There was a woman sitting there. She had dark golden brown hair falling waves down her back. Some of it covered her left eye while the other eye was filled with fear and desperation. She had tanned caramel skin and wore a red blouse with what looked like once nice designer jeans. She was bleeding from her temple and had a bruise on her forehead.

Her dark chocolate eyes widened once we got in her view.

She looked a little familiar like I've seen her on TV or something before.

Her mouth started moving but I couldn't understand her through the glass.

I tapped the glass to get the woman to listen.

She looked up at me in confusion and I imitated rolling down something while mouthing the word "window."

After a few seconds, her eyes widened in realization and she rolled down the window.

She took a shaky deep breath before speaking. "W-Who are you?" she had a melodic voice, although it shook slightly.

I smiled, trying to seem a bit more friendly. "Hi, I'm Peggy, and she's my sister Angelica."

Her eyes flickered to Angelica who was wearing a smile similar to mine just a bit more cautious.

"Can you tell us your name?" Angelica asked walking to my right side.

"My n-name is Maria." She said pronouncing the name more like Mariah.

"Okay Maria, are you hurt?" I asked her trying to look further into the car.

She shook her head. "N-no b-but my dr-driver—" her voice broke as she glanced at the seat in front of her.

Angelica walked over to the front and gasped.

Frowning, I walked up behind her and gasped at the sight.

There was a man in the front seat leaning forward. His bloody head rested on an airbag and it looked like his legs were crushed under the concrete pillar that had fallen on the car.

He had shards of glass in his neck and laying on his lap.

He was dead.

I swallowed back the bile that had come up in my throat and took deep breaths.

Come on pull it together. You need to help this woman.

"I-I see, um… But are you hurt anywhere? Any bones broken?" I asked going back up to Maria's window.

She gazed down at herself and moved her arms.

"I d-don't think so. Just a bit banged up."

As her arms moved, I did see a few bruises but nothing too serious.

"Okay well, we're going to help you out. Can you open your door?" I asked.

She unlocked the door and tried to pull.

To our relief, it opened easily and Maria stumbled out.

I immediately moved forward to help, as did Angelica.

Maria winced once she was stable and on her feet.

I looked down and saw she had a large bruise forming around her right ankle. I could also see she was wearing red, what was once shiny, high heels.

This woman must be a celebrity or something.

"Are you alright?" Angelica asked, looking at the woman in concern.

Maria nodded stiffly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

 _Your ankle begs to differ._

My eyes linger on her ankle before I look back up to see Maria had been looking at it as well.

I look at her and raise an eyebrow.

"I'll be fine, it just hurts a little. I can still walk."

"Okay… well, we've gotta move. Angelica called 911, and they are going to be looking for us around Riverside Road in the Washington Heights."

Angelica asked, "Do you know where we are Maria?"

Maria frowned in thought as she considered it. "I think… we might be near Broadway."

She seemed hesitant to say that but I might have just imagined that.

"Alright, well do you know what parking garage this is?" Angelica asked.

Maria nodded. "Yeah, uh, I think we're in Park-it parking garage."

Angelica raised an eyebrow. "Park-it? I know that place. I have the address in my phone for when I need a place to park when I go to see stuff on Broadway."

Now I raised an eyebrow. "You're into Broadway musicals?"

Angelica shot me a confused look. "Well, duh. Don't you remember how long I obsessed over Wicked?"

I shrugged. "I thought you were just into the Wizard of Oz."

Angelica shook her head, "Nevermind, it doesn't matter now. Aha! I found it!"

She held out her phone, and we saw on Google Maps a red pin. "So that red pin is our current location being 528 W 162nd St, New York, NY. We need to get back there, to Riverside Drive, which is where the emergency services will be looking." She pointed at another street to the west of here, closer to the Hudson River.

I nodded. "Okay, well we better get out of this garage."

Angelica frowned, "Yeah… The car is totaled. We'll make it further on foot." she said as she looked at the banged-up vehicle.

I sighed, "We'll just leave it."

I turned and looked at Maria and Angelica. "Well, we better get a move on."

* * *

 **Ugh! Why does it take so long to get through this exposition! Next chapter someone is getting in that Mansion. Alright, frustrated author out.**

 **~PJOandHP4life**


	7. The Mansion

**Hey guys! I finally got this chapter out! It took forever, but I was pretty busy and had an awful writer's block! See there was so much testing at school, and then finals came along. Then I went on a trip to the beach, then Philly, then went to D.C. for a little while. I've been busy. Then I wasn't sure which characters I should have in this chapter. And I'm ranting aren't I? Sorry! You can read the story now. Enjoy!**

* * *

(Seabury POV)

I glanced nervously out my window, the wind had picked up considerably since we left the office. The rain was currently coming down hard. A constant drum of water droplets could be heard hitting the limousine.

Mr. King seemed to anxious as well as he leaned forward and asked the driver if he could drive a little faster.

"The sooner we get out of this storm the better," he said leaning back against his seat again.

I tried to smile reassuringly. "Don't worry sir, we're only a few minutes away from your mansion now."

Mr. King glanced at me and sighed, "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Nevertheless, the driver sped up a bit and we arrived outside the mansion in no time.

It was a grand structure, it stretched for thousands of square feet and had a nice mix of cream and pearl white paint covering the brick exterior. The front was graced with four marble pillars. The stone path to the front doors was flanked by freshly cut grass and six triangular bushes.

The limo parked at the end of the stone path and the driver rushed out to open the door for Mr. King.

I rushed out of my door to Mr. King's side holding his briefcase.

We walked down the path to the doors and I hurried to open them.

Mr. King walked through with a small smile at me.

I entered after him and for some reason, my face felt warm, but I disregarded that as I took Mr. King's coat.

He sighed in relief, "Ah, home sweet home."

The foyer was quite big, fit for Mr. King's many occasions of holding festivities for his fellow party members or when he decided to have a charity banquet.

I looked up at the grand wooden staircase, it curved around from the right and left wings of the house to meet and lead down to where we were standing.

Two maids hurried down the steps, both coming from opposite sides as the blood red carpet muffled their footsteps.

I took off my own coat as the shorter one made it to the bottom first and handed her both my coat and Mr. King's white fur one.

The second one came down, she was slightly older, breathing hard but bowed to us.

"Sir, your dinner is being prepared currently. It should be down in a few minutes. Please, let me prepare a show for you to watch in the viewing room.

King waved his hand, "That should not be necessary. I had originally planned on watching Mean Girls... but I could use a good nap, I've had a stressful campaigning week." He looked to me, "However, Samuel may be led to watch something of his choosing." He stopped, "That is if you would like to."

After a second, I realized he was asking me what I wanted to do.

"Oh!" I was very flustered for being silent. "I, uh, yes, I'll just watch something."

With a nodded and a small smile, Mr. King rarely smiles freely, he dismissed the nurse.

As soon as she was gone, Mr. King's shoulders slumped and he yawned widely.

"Ugh, I need to take that nap," he looked at me, "See you later Sammy," and then he walked up the long staircase to his master bedroom in the right wing.

Blushing, I tried to regain my composure, somehow he can always find a new way to make me blush effortlessly. After just standing there and admiring the chandelier above my head, I decided to go to the viewing room down the hall.

Maybe _I'll_ watch some Mean Girls.

* * *

(Jefferson POV)

 _Zeus must hate me._

I was on my way uptown to a photo shoot when the rain started.

Simple rain doesn't bother me that much.

However, what started as a little drizzle very quickly changed to become a thunderstorm.

I was currently lounging in the back seat of my limo, and cursing out the god of thunder vehemently. And Thor too I guess. I don't discriminate between mythologies.

Before you judge me to secretly be a mythology nerd, know that I've recently played Hercules in a movie and did some research to get more in touch with the character.

I groaned for probably the third time in the past hour when we turned into backed up traffic.

"Ugh! I hate New York traffic! This is why most of the jobs I do are in LA." I grumbled to no one in particular, but the figure across from me lowered the paper they were reading anyway.

James looked at me, bored, "Thomas, the traffic here is just as bad as in LA."

He stopped as the car jolted due to a sudden stop, and we could hear the driver cursing at someone who just cut him off.

James rolled his eyes and frowned back down at his newspaper, "Or maybe not."

I sighed dramatically and laid down on the black leather luxury seating, I wanted it to be a nice shade of lilac, but I digress.

James glanced down at me over his glasses before continuing to read. "Thomas, please put your seat belt back on. That's not safe," he spoke sounding quite tired with this car ride.

I rolled my eyes, "We're not even moving, Jemmy!"

He glared at me, "I told you not to call me that name. My name is James and you know that."

I smirked at him now upside down in the seat, my curly hair gathering on the recently vacuumed car floor.

"Whatever you say," I winked at him, "Jemmy."

Before he could respond, the car jolted again, more harshly this time as if we were rammed from the back. I let out a small yelp as I slid down more on the floor.

"I'm sorry Mr. Jefferson," the driver said, "Are you alright?"

My head hurt a little, but I was alright, "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Now, focusing on driving!"

"Yes, sorry sir! But this crazy driver hit us in the back!"

Ah, so that's what it was.

"Well, go out and have a word with him! I'll be out in a moment."

James looked down at me in concern, "Are you sure you're fine?"

It was at this moment that I realized our position.

When I had fallen down, James had fallen forward and instinctively reached out for the first stable thing he could find. Which just happened to be, my hair.

And… I'm surprisingly perfectly fine with that. Usually, I would go ballistic if anyone, excluding me and my hairdresser, tried to touch my hair.

James however, was a different story. He was a blushing mess and scrambled to get off of me.

"S-sorry Thomas! I just fell and—"

"James, It's fine," I said stopping him from what would have probably been a long apology.

I moved back to get in my seat and smiled at him, "I guess you were right about the seat belts."

He smiled back softly.

That's when we were hit again.

This time we both clutched to the seats at the jolt.

"What in the hell is going on?" I said turning around concerned.

I heard muffled noises outside my door.

Looking out the window, I saw a woman run by and a few lanes down a guy climb out of his car.

I raised an eyebrow looking over at James who shrugged in response, so then I opened my passenger door and stepped outside.

I was immediately blasted with a loud siren.

But, not a firetruck one, this was much louder and much more important.

It was a storm siren.

* * *

(Angelica POV)

So apparently when you really need help from 911, they're occupied.

Then again, they said they're stuck saving an orphanage hit by a tractor trailer, so I can't be mad at them…

I sighed and ended the phone call, groaning when I saw my phone had only 2% power left.

I looked around for any sign of where we are. My eyes finally found a fallen street sign that read W 162nd St and Fort Washington Ave.

Okay, so we still have at least another block to go to reach Riverside Dr, but maybe we should change course and look for a hospital or something.

"Hey, Angie?" I pulled myself out of my thoughts and looked over at Peggy. We were both supporting Maria as she couldn't walk very well with her ankle.

I raised an eyebrow at her for calling me "Angie," but I let it slide this time considering our circumstances.

"I think we should probably stop for a bit," Peggy said walking on the left of Maria.

I didn't really want to stop, we needed to find a safe place for the night just in case we get another storm surge. Then I saw how Maria was panting after making the struggle to walk with her injured ankle.

I sighed but relented. "Okay."

We stopped at a bus stop, we all really did need to rest, and Maria's ankle had gotten more swollen and red during our walk. While she tried to hide it, every step had her clenching her teeth in pain.

"We'll rest here for a bit," I said as Peggy and I helped Maria sit down.

The surrounding area was a mess, there were a few other people milling around, trying to find help and other's trying to provide help. The wave had caused plenty of damage. Some trees came down with power lines being pulled down making it difficult for cars to move past. Most of the buildings were still intact, but many windows were cracked and the supports were damaged.

There was a steady stream of people stumbling out of parking garages like the one we woke up in.

Many of the smaller small businesses were flooded, and many were trying to escape with as much of their things as they could.

There was the constant sound of crying, water rushing, and the distant buzz of a rescue helicopter saving people from skyscrapers.

"Wow… it really is a mess." Peggy said on the left of Maria while I nodded mutely on Maria's right.

"Well, I don't think 911 will be any help to us. With all the damage done so far by the hurricane, three civilians aren't their main priority." I said trying to not let my disappointment show.

"We need to find an emergency shelter or something, we can't just stay out here," Maria said anxiously.

We were all afraid of another wave or a building collapsing on us, but I think Maria was scared the most. After all, she saw her driver die before her eyes, and only barely managed to escape the same fate.

"Hey, try to relax. We'll be alright." Peggy said comfortingly as she propped Maria's swollen ankle up on her lap.

"Yeah, we need to stay focused, I think there is a hospital nearby that Eliza used to volunteer at."

Peggy's eyes brightened, "Yes! I think it was called Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. They should be able to help with your ankle. Children sprain ankles all the time."

I nodded, "And they're sure to accept us since many people are probably injured now they won't solely accept children."

Maria calmed down a bit at that, "O-okay, well I think I can try to walk again. We can't waste time."

I sent an approving smile at her, I admired her stubborn attitude.

Just as Peggy and I helped her up we heard the sound of a car engine speeding nearby.

I turned to see rough up black limousine speed down the wrong side of the street.

My eyes widened when it skidded and came straight towards the bus stop.

"Move!" I yelled grabbing Maria's arm as we scrambled out of the way.

It only narrowly missed us as it crashed into the bus stop.

My heart was beating in my chest rapidly and I turned to Maria and Peggy seeing their shocked faces staring at the car.

"Are you two alright?!" I asked frantically checking to see if either had been hurt.

"N-no, we're fine Angelica, but what just happened?!" Peggy stammered out staring at the crushed bus stop where we were just sitting.

"Some— some maniac just crashed their limo into a bus stop and nearly killed us!" Maria said looking overwhelmed and frantic.

Then the limo backed up again, and we moved further away just in case the driver tried to run us down again.

Suddenly we heard a strangled gasp. Followed by someone from inside the limo yelling:

"MY HAIR!"

I frowned and looked to Peggy and Maria who both shrugged as clueless as me.

"Thomas calm down!" another voice said in response to the previous voice.

"How can I stay calm when our driver just crashed into a bus stop and practically ruined _my hair_!?"

Wait, that voice sounded familiar… but it couldn't be him. That was just so unlikely. And my luck can't be _that_ bad.

Then one of the passenger doors facing us opened and a disheveled man stumbled out.

It can't be.

But no matter how much I wished it wasn't true, Thomas Jefferson was standing in front of us in a dark magenta suit covered in a pattern of roses.

And I had to do a double take as I saw his hair, it _was_ a mess.

"Thomas wait!" another figured tumbled out after him in less outlandish clothes. He had broken glasses and while not as expensive as Jefferson's, his casual dress wear was nice.

"Jemmy look at this place! It's horrible!" Thomas said looking around with barely hidden disgust.

"Ugh, why me?" I mumbled to the sky and the man with Thomas turned to finally see us.

He waved awkwardly and nudged Thomas to get his attention.

"What is it Jemmy?" the man (Jemmy?) nodded in our direction. Thomas turned to look at us.

"AH!" We jumped back at his sudden shout. "Zombies! The Apocalypse has started! Kill them, Jemmy!" Thomas screeched before hiding behind the other man who rolled his eyes at the dramatic response.

Peggy, Maria, and I looked at each other in confusion before looking down at our clothes to see that we did look a little "undead."

I rolled my eyes, "We're not zombies Thomas." I said in annoyance and Peggy raised an eyebrow at me as if to say, " _You know this spoiled brat?"_

I waved my hand in a " _Long story"_ way.

Thomas moved from his place behind the other man and glared at me.

"That is exactly something a zombie would say! And how do you know my name?" He said pointing an accusing finger at me.

I can't believe this man…

"Thomas cut the crap, it's me, Angelica," I said, done with his childish behavior.

With that, he straightened up and walked a little closer to get a good look at me.

After a few seconds, his eyes widened and then his lips curled in his signature smirk.

"Well, well, looks like we meet again Miss Schuyler," he said looking me up and down.

"Although, I think I preferred your old look."

This arrogant son of a—

"Wait, you two know each other?" the other man intervened before I could strangle Thomas.

"Yes," and "Regrettably," were the respected answers.

"Wait, Angie is this the man you punched in the face when you were in Paris?" Peggy asked her eyes lighting up in recognition.

I smiled at the somewhat fond memory, "Yes Peggy, this is him. And please don't call me Angie."

Jefferson frowned, "Really? That's all you told them about us? We used to be _very_ good friends if I remember correctly."

I glared at him, but before I could protest the other man stepped between me and Jefferson.

"Okay, well now we know you two know each other. However, the rest of us have never met, so I'll start the introductions," he said smoothly stopping an argument that was sure to start.

He smiled at us and held out his hand, "I'm James Madison, and Thomas here is my client. I'm his manager for his acting career," James said professionally.

"And he's my best friend!" Thomas said putting his arm around James who shot him an annoyed look, but I could see him smile slightly.

I cautiously shook his hand, "I'm Angelica Schuyler and that's my sister Peggy and our acquaintance Maria…" I frowned, "I now realize you never told us your last name."

Maria blushed and softly said, "It's Re—Lewis, my name is Maria Lewis." she said avoiding everyone's confused and slightly concerned glances.

"Well… we are so sorry about the bus stop incident, I think our driver was injured." James said looking back at the limo.

"We should check on him," I said and walked up to the driver's door.

I knocked on the window, "Sir? Are you alright?" I said loudly hoping he could hear me.

"Is he injured?" Peggy asked in concern.

I squinted inside. The windows were tinted darker than most cars, but I could make out a slumped over body, in what I assumed was a suit. They're head was lying limp against the headrest.

"I'm not sure, he isn't moving. Just lying lifeless against the steering wheel." I responded knocking again. "Sir? Nod your head if you can hear me." There was no movement in the car.

I tried the car door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Peggy can you hand me the—"

"Here." I turned to see Peggy on my left holding out the emergency hammer/flashlight we used to get out of her van.

I smiled, "Thanks," and I returned my focus to the car door and with one hard hit I broke the window.

"Jesus!" Thomas exclaimed jumping back. "Warn a guy before you break a window next time."

I rolled my eyes but decided to ignore him as I carefully reached inside the car to unlock the door.

 _Click_.

I pulled back my hand wincing as I got a small cut on the outside of my wrist.

Then I opened the door and what I saw made bile rise up in my throat.

Shards of glass covered the front of his body, many were lodged into his face and abdomen.

There was blood, so much blood staining the white shirt of his suit.

"G-guys… I think he's dead." I said in a wavering voice, cautiously stepping back from the horrible scene.

Maria gasped, a hand coming up to cover her mouth and Peggy put a comforting arm around her.

James cautiously walked forward and put two fingers up to his neck.

There was a heavy silence as they waited for his verdict.

He finally looked up, a grave look on his face. "No pulse."

There was another heavy silence.

"Well, we can't let this hold us up. We need to keep moving a find a safe place for the night." I said shaking myself out of my stupor.

"We passed a hospital a little while earlier, we can drive you guys there," James offered.

I smiled, "Thank you, I think we can all fit." I gave the limo a quick once over. It was a bit banged up in the front, but everything else seemed intact.

"I'll drive," Peggy said.

"I call shotgun!" Thomas said quickly running to the front passenger side.

I rolled my eyes and helped Maria walk get in the car while James went in on the other side.

Eventually, all of us were seated in the limo, I was on the left behind Peggy with Maria next to me in the middle and James was sitting on the right behind Thomas.

Peggy put the car in reverse and carefully backed away from the ruined bus stop before getting on the road and heading the way the limo came through.

After a few minutes of James giving Peggy directions, I remembered Eliza.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tried to turn it on, but the screen remained black.

 _Dammit, it's dead._

"Hey, do either of you have a phone I can borrow?" I said looking at James and Thomas.

Thomas frowned, "Why?"

I frowned back, "Because I need to call my sister, and my phone is dead."

"Maybe I don't want you on my phone," Thomas said.

"Why not?" I wasn't really following the turn this conversation took.

"Because you would probably go through my texts and photos for blackmail material," Thomas said as if this was obvious.

I rolled my eyes, "Really, Thomas? I'm not that petty. I just need to call my sister. Not everyone is as unnecessarily annoying as you." I mumbled the last part, but he still heard it.

Thomas turned in his seat to fully face me, "Excuse you, but I'm not the unnecessarily annoying one."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean by that? All I wanted to do was call my sister. You're the one who accused me of being petty!"

"Well, you said I'm annoying!"

James tried to interject, "Guys, is this really necessary?" But neither of us heard him.

"Because you won't let me use your phone to make a quick call!"

"Well, you always get angry at people for no reason!"

Peggy turned on him, "Don't you think that's a little—"

" _I get angry at people for no reason?_ " I exclaimed, cutting her off.

"Yes! And then you punch them in the face!"

"You were being sexist!"

James tried again, "Now really—"

"I just asked why you were so interested in becoming a politician when you could be a model! That job would be way more stressful!" Thomas said cutting him off.

"And how do you _not_ see what was wrong with that comment!?" I asked incredulously.

"I was trying to compliment you!"

"That's what you call a compliment?!"

"Hey!" James cut us both off loudly.

"Here, take my phone," he said reaching across Maria to hand me the phone.

"And can both of you stop it. I'm trying to drive through a good deal of wreckage right now, and you both are very distracting." Peggy said.

"Sorry Pegs," I said blushing a little in embarrassment.

Thomas just pouted and looked out the window, refusing to say anything.

He is such a child sometimes.

I sigh and thank James before dialing my sister's number.

It started ringing and I waited, really hoping Eliza would answer.

After a few more rings, I finally hear her voice, "Hi—"

"Thank god! Eliza are you—"

"You've reached Elizabeth Schuyler, she is currently not available right now. Please leave a message after the tone."

I sighed again and wait for the beep before leaving a message.

"Hey Eliza, it's me, Angelica. I was just calling to see if you're okay. Peggy's with me, and we're both alright. Please call back this number as soon as you can." I say.

I pause before adding, "I love you," and then hang up the call.

I handed the phone back to James and look out the window, avoiding the eyes I can feel watching me.

I hope she's alright…

* * *

(Philip POV)

I cursed softly under my breath as my arm was wrapped with a soft cloth.

"Ah!" I winced and my arm twitched as pressure was applied to the wound.

"Sorry, sweetheart, just try to hold still okay?" my mom said as she did her best to wrap my wounded arm.

"Okay, I'll be still."

We were sitting in the dim light of my cell phone. After the lights went out, we made our way to the nurse's office. A few other faculty members that were still at the school were here with us tending to their own injuries.

"This is the second time this week I've been in a nurse's office. I guess trouble seems to find me easily huh?" I tried to say this in a light tone to lift her spirits, but my mom just looked up at me with a tight smile before returning her attention to my elbow.

I winced again as she then started to press an ice pack on the swollen area of my right arm.

"So… what now?" I asked trying to break the silence.

My mom didn't answer immediately, still focus on my arm, before she looked up and sighed, blowing some air through her lips to move a stray piece of hair that escaped her messy bun.

"Well, first we need to make you a makeshift cast for your arm to make sure the bone heals correctly."

"Then… I'm not sure. I guess we can try to call 911 again and then either look for a way out or get some blankets for the night."

"Well, we can't just stay here," I said getting agitated and a little fearful. I just wanted to be home in a pillow fort ignoring the storm. Not stuck in an Elementary school without power.

My mom smiled softly at me, "I know sweetheart, but we don't really have much control over the situation. We're quite lucky to be alive right now."

I shrugged, but then immediately regretted it as pain shot up my arm.

"Hey! No moving!" my mom said pressing the ice pack down a bit more.

"Right, sorry."

My mom frowned before standing up, "Stay right here, I'm going to ask the nurse about broken arms." And with that, she wandered over to the nurse who was tending to another person who seemed to have injured their wrist.

With my good arm, I reached over to get my phone from my right pocket, maybe I could call someone for help. As soon as I opened my phone, I saw multiple texts from my dad along with a few missed calls and voicemails from him and my aunts.

Oops. Probably should call them back, so they know we aren't dead.

I got to my contacts and call my dad.

He picked up immediately.

" _Philip?! Th-thank god! Ar-re you o-okay?!"_ he says this in a rush, his words breaking apart.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine Dad," I rush to assure him.

" _Wh-where a-are y-y-you?"_

"I'm with Mom at her school. We're locked in and the power went out." I say stumbling over my words a little. I'm so happy to hear his voice.

" _O-okay, is sh-she alright?"_

"Yeah, yeah she's fine," I say looking over at her as she helped the school nurse tend to a man's injured wrist.

"Where are you, Dad?" I asked in concern at the loud sounds in the background.

" _Ph-Philip? C-can you hear me?"_ he sounded confused, maybe he couldn't hear me clearly.

"Dad? Can you hear me?"

" _Ph-Philip? Hello? Ar-are you—"_

The call suddenly cut off and I pulled the phone away from my face to see the screen display the words: Call Failed.

I frowned and looked at the top left corner of my phone to see that I had no service.

Great, so I can't call anyone.

I sighed and looked around the room. People were sitting on some beds, many were covered in dust from the broken cement. Others were rushing around looking for medical supplies to help anyone that had been injured. A few were trying to call people on their phones like I was but to no avail.

How are we going to get out of here?

I stood up from the bed and walked to the office.

There were some people standing around the computers, trying to get one to work.

I hear some static and turned to see a woman on a walkie-talkie.

"Are you at the doors? Over."

There was more static before a voice responded.

" _I'm in the back of the Cafeteria. The doors are locked, but we should be able to manually open them from the inside. Over."_

Well, that's a relief.

"That's great. Do you need any help? Over."

" _Well, we do need a metal crank that is kept in one of the drawers of my desk in the main office. We need it to open the doors. Can you send someone to bring it to us? Over."_

"Of course, someone will be there in a few minutes. Over and out."

She put the walkie-talkie in a holster on her belt and looked around at everyone in the room. "Hey, can anyone here help me look for a crank?"

I caught her eye and smiled slightly. "I could help."

"Me too," said a voice from behind me.

Wait, I know that voice!

I turned around quickly to see Theodosia walking through the door.

"Theo! What are you doing here?" I asked suddenly trying to remember if my hair was a mess or not.

Theo looked up and after the initial shock fell off her face split into a smile. "Hey! Philip, right?"

 _She remembers my name! She remembers my name!_

I try my best to school my facial expression but by the look in her eye, I don't think I was successful.

Then she was suddenly frowning down at my chest. "Oh my god, what happened to your arm?" She rushed forward to get a closer look at my makeshift cast. I try to wave off her concern with my good arm. "Oh, it's nothing. It's got hurt when the tree fell, but I think all the blood is from scrapes."

She held my arm up carefully and I bite back a curse. Theo looked back at me sympathetically when I winced, "Sorry, but I can take a look at it if you want?"

She straightened back to her full height and I noticed how close she was, there were only a few inches between us.

I tried to will away the steady growing blush across my face and nod. "Y-yeah that'd be cool."

"Hey lovebirds, I could use some help to find that crank."

I turn to see the woman from before looking at us with a smile and feel my face betray my embarrassment as it heats up.

"Right, sorry." I quickly apologize and start to search through some drawers.

"So… What are you doing here?" I ask trying to keep the conversation flowing.

Theo shrugs as she searches through another drawer, "I volunteer here after school some days. I usually help give out food for the after-school clubs and such. I've got to get in those service hours you know?" She said the last part with a small smile before looking back at me. "What about you? Why are you here?"

"My mom. She works here as a teacher. I came by to see her since she was working late today." Theo smiles at me, "Aw, that's sweet of you Pippy." I groaned playfully, "Damn, I thought you forgot about that." She smiled mischievously, "Nope. I have an excellent memory."

"Language Philip," my mom said as she walked into the room.

"Sorry Mom," I say as she walks over to us.

She looks down at the drawers we are looking through and looks back at me with a raised eyebrow. "What are you two searching for?"

"A crank, they need one to open the doors," Theo responds.

"Hey, aren't you that girl from Philip's school?" my mom asked frowning in thought at Theo.

"Yeah, Philip got in a fight on the first day defending my honor," Theo said with a smirk at me.

"Ah yes. I remember now. Theo right?"

"It's Theodosia actually, but you can call me Theo."

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you, Theodosia, my name's Eliza. I'm Philip's mom." Eliza said with a smile holding out her hand.

"Nice to meet you too," Theo responded with a smile shaking my mom's hand.

"Hey, is this it?" I ask the woman that was on the walkie-talkie before, holding up something resembling a low rider metal bike crank.

"Yes! I think that's it." The woman said with a smile pulling out her walkie-talkie again.

"Hey Frank, we found it. Over."

There was some static before a response came through, " _Great! Bring it, and we should be out of here in no time. Over."_

"Alright, I'll be there soon. Over and out." she put the walkie-talkie away and I handed her the crank.

She walked out and I looked to Theo and my mom with a hopeful smile. "Looks like we'll be out of here sooner than I thought."

* * *

(Madison POV)

Now that the two of them stopped arguing, the car ride was quiet as no one was really in the mood for small talk. Well, the woman that had been arguing with Thomas was talking to the driver, I think she said they were sisters, but other than that it was silent.

It was eerily quiet outside, the wind had died down and now it seemed people were just trying to find a safe place to stay the night. There were no more screams of agony or fear, just an odd silence.

That's when I got an alert on my phone.

Everyone, but Peggy, turned to look at me, dread and fear showing clearly on their faces at what the alert was warning us about.

With a sigh of relief, I saw it was only a traffic notification from my Waze app.

Then I frowned when it said that the roads to the hospital were blocked off due to flooding.

"Well? What is it, Jemmy?" Thomas asked.

I looked up to see everyone was still staring at me, again excluding Peggy of course as she was driving. "Uh, the good news is it isn't another storm surge warning." Maria and Jefferson sighed in relief, but Angelica still frowned.

"But?" she asked knowing she wasn't going to like the bad news.

"But… the bad news is we won't make it to the hospital. The roads are flooded."

Thomas groans in front of me. "Well, that's great. What are we going to do now?"

"We still need to find a place to stay. Do either of you know a place close to here?" Peggy asks looking at us in the rearview mirror.

"Well, you know that mansion where they film that reality TV show, The Royals, is near here," The woman beside me, I think her name was Maria, says quietly.

"That's true! I think it's on a hill right? That would be a good place to stay in case the flooding gets worse overnight." Angelica says nodding as she thinks it over.

"Okay, that sounds good and all, but wouldn't that be breaking and entering?" Thomas said.

Angelica rolled her eyes, "It's not like we're going to loot them. We just need a place to stay the night and it's our best bet."

Thomas glares at her but thankfully lets the subject drop.

"Okay then, I'll get Waze to give us directions," I say googling the address.

 _(Time skip)_

A little while later, we pull up to a grand mansion with another limousine in the driveway. "Wow… it looks much bigger off-screen," the driver, I think she was Peggy, muttered offhandedly as we all got out of the opened her door and stepped out, helping Maria to her feet. I rushed over to their side to help as Thomas and Peggy got out of the front.

The mansion was grand, it was a little bigger than Monticello and had a nice mix of pearly white paint covering the brick exterior. We walked out of the wide driveway to the front steps. The stone path we were walking along was flanked by freshly cut grass and six bushes that were probably once neatly trimmed but now looked a mess due to the strong wind and debris.

We approached the front door and I noticed that a few of the window had broken. Thankfully, other than that the place seemed mostly undamaged from the storm.

Thomas walked up and rung the doorbell.

We heard a distance tune ring throughout the house and waited for someone to answer.

After about two minutes, he rang it again.

Still, no answer.

"Alright, Angie hand me the hammer." Peggy held out her hand and her sister handed her the hammer from earlier.

"Woah, woah, woah. Let's put away the hammer. It's a big house. It might take some time for someone to answer the—"

"Hello?"

We turned to see a woman at the door, most likely a maid if her black and white dress was anything to go off of. I smiled and tried to seem friendly. "Hello, we were wondering if we could stay here for the night? With the storm going on, the roads are flooded, and we have nowhere else to stay."

She eyed us suspiciously before curtly replying, "I don't think we have room for any guests ton—"

"You're kidding, right? It's a _mansion_. You have room for us and more!" Thomas said this with a raised eyebrow waiting to hear the maid's response.

She blushed and opened her mouth to respond when another voice interjected.

"Excuse me, is someone at the door?"

The maid's blush deepened, and she turned to face someone inside the house.

"J-just some people wanting an autograph. I'll ask them to go, sir."

"We do _not_ want autographs!" Peggy said loudly, trying to catch the attention of whoever the maid was talking to.

"We just need a place to stay the night," Angelica added.

It was quiet for a little while then the person spoke.

"Let them in."

"B-but sir—"

"I said, let them in. God knows we have room to spare."

Thomas gave the nurse a pointed look as she reluctantly opened both doors to let them inside.

The inside was even more impressive than the outside.

I was a little in awe at the foyer. The blood-red carpet gave the place a cliche look but somehow fit perfectly as it covered a double-sided, grand, wooden staircase.

I looked to the others and saw varying reactions to the grand display in front of us.

Maria looked around in awe as I had while Jefferson eyed the red carpet with a twinge of distaste. However, Peggy and Angelica seemed indifferent to the decor as if it was expected.

Interesting...

"Sorry about that. The maids are accustomed to fans of Mr. King trying to sneak in for an autograph."

I turned my attention to a well-dressed man that stood off to the side. He had curly chestnut hair and a pale complexion. He smiled politely at us and gestured for us to follow him further into the house.

"Come, you all must be starving."

As he said it, I realized it had been a while since my small lunch consisting of only a croissant and some peppermint tea. And this would likely be my only opportunity to have a good meal for some time.

So with a shrug, I decided to follow the man, but just before he could lead us down a hall, a man appears at the walking to the top of the steps.

"Sammy? Is someone at the door? I heard the bell ring, we really need to choose a new tune. That one is _so_ annoying."

I raised an eyebrow at this and looked to the man apparently called, "Sammy."

He was blushing profusely and avoided my gaze before rushing to the stairs.

The man continued to walk, now descending the right side of the stairs.

"Maybe it could Candy Store! It would be so fitting! The intro has just the right amount of sass and is blunt enough that maybe people will take a hint and leave. We need to get this done imed—"

He stopped short when he finally looked up and saw us.

My eyebrows furrowed when I took in his face, it looked familiar in that way famous people look, but the green made it hard to tell what the man really looked like.

The green mask on his face somehow was the least ridiculous thing about the man's appearance. He also wore a big, white, fluffy bathrobe covered in small black spots over red satin pajamas. The outfit topped off with fluffy bunny slippers.

For a moment everyone remained still, staring up at the man in shock while he stared back down at us in the same fashion.

Then he shook himself out of his stupor and studied us with a confused glare before breaking the awkward silence with a blunt question.

"Who the hell are you?"

* * *

 **This. Took. Too. Freaking. Long. To. Write! But hey! They're finally in the mansion! Now I can start writing their deaths! Well, that's all for now, bye!**

 **~PJOandHP4life**


	8. Wait, I Know Him!

**Hey guys! That's right! I'm alive and still updating this! This would have been finished sooner, but then school started and AP chem got in the way... But hey! At least I haven't forgotten about this story, right? (Unlike some of my other ones) I hope you like this chapter! We finally have the main character get introduced! (Well some of them anyway). Enjoy! (Edit: I changed up a little of this chapter near the end. You should probably reread it to understand things going forward. ALSO! Lafayette and Jefferson are BROTHERS, not cousins. Sorry for the confusion.)**

* * *

(Lafayette POV)

 _If this person doesn't get out of my way with his stupid phone in the next five seconds, I'm going to run him over._

I beeped my horn for the fourth time as this guy stood still, right in front of my car, recording the sky. He wasn't the only one too. There were at least ten others standing in the middle of the busy New York street looking up at the sky with their cellphones out.

It had stopped raining about 20 minutes ago, but the sky was still dark.

The clouds were swirling and forming different patterns in the sky. Nothing like a tornado, but still concerning.

The wind was still howling, picking up random pieces of trash on the busy New York streets, and tossing it around. I could feel it pushing against my sitting car, shaking the vehicle slightly. Thankfully, in the city, there were few trees to sway and fall, but the buildings still loomed over us. It seemed as if they were swaying themselves and could break and crash at any moment.

But that was ridiculous, these buildings were made to withstand strong winds. It was unlikely for the structures to falter… right?

Finally, after my fifth or sixth time honking my horn, the guy noticed that he was standing _in the middle of the freaking road_ and moved.

"Finally, le imbécile moves," I mumbled, as I drove past the guy and maneuvered my way around the shocked pedestrians littering the streets.

The New York streets were even more crowded than usual, which was certainly a sight. People were running amuck in fear or some just stood in the middle of the crossroad staring at the sky in shock.

 _And I thought regular New York traffic was annoying._

I could barely move forward an inch before some maniac ran in front of the car yelling "The end is near!"

 _I mean, come on people, it's just a storm!_

Then my phone suddenly started beeping loudly, the bright red screen displaying the words:

 **HURRICANE WARNING! CATEGORY 3!**

 _Okay then, apparently it's not just a storm._

I turned onto Fort Washington Avenue and came upon a crashed car in my way.

Great. I sigh and try to back up so I can make a u-turn but the line of cars behind me provide a roadblock and beep at me angrily, so I can't go that way either.

 _Well, the world's gone to_ merde _anyway, might as well get out._

So I get out of my car and it's significantly louder outside, people are screaming and sirens blare loudly.

The streets are a mess of car crashes and people running wild, breaking into stores and all around acting like crazed animals.

 _The storm hasn't even hit yet!_

I sigh again, and look around for a possible side street I could drive down.

That's when I heard someone cursing out someone else in French.

My interest peaked, I haven't met many New Yorkers that spoke fluent French, I turned around to look for the source of the eloquent, and quite colorful, flow of language.

Finally, my eyes landed on a Hispanic man of moderately short stature standing on the street curve yelling at a cab driver the refused to give them a ride.

"Je ne peux pas putain vous croire! Vous êtes une fichue honte à ceux dans votre profession! Est-ce pas votre travail aux passagers en voiture, par l'intermédiaire de quels que soient les obstacles, vers leur destination? Et vous putain travaillez à NYC! Vous devriez être capable de conduire à travers rues à peine inondées! Je veux dire, le trafic au cours de l'hiver est bien pire."

(translation: "I can't f***ing believe you! You are a damn shame to those in your profession! Isn't it your job to drive passengers by car, through whatever obstacles, to their destination? And you f***ing work in NYC! You should be able to drive through barely flooded streets! I mean, the traffic during the winter is much worse.")

He spoke with more of a creole accent than I was used to hearing, but it was definitely French that he was yelling at the poor cabbie who seemed both slightly frightened and annoyed at the onslaught of words he couldn't comprehend. Although, from the cursing man's facial expression and body language, it was very likely that the driver knew he was being insulted.

Just when it seemed the Hispanic man was about to resort to physically expressing his anger, the cabbie sped off down the dangerous road that the driver was apparently "too scared" to drive down.

The man cursed again, although this time in another language (maybe Spanish?) and flipped him off as the cab turned the corner.

He sighed and started to run his hands through his greasy, messy ponytail when he turned so I could finally see his face.

 _Wait, a second, I know him…_

"Alexandre?"

The man looked up and our eyes met across the somewhat flooded streets.

He squinted at me before his eyes widened in recognition, and he called out, "Marquis?"

His voice was hesitant and his face was a mixture of shock and joy.

When I grinned widely and waved, the shock dissipated and his face was of pure joy and relief.

"Gilbert! It is so good to see you!" Alexander said with a laugh as I approached him.

"You as well, mon ami!" I said with a hug.

He pulled back first and I took a good look at him. His hair was a bit longer than the last time I saw him and his eyes looked tired but were as bright as usual.

"Ah, you've finally managed faire pousser une barbe!"

(translation: "to grow a beard")

Alexander rolled his eyes. "Haha, très drôle."

(translation: "very funny")

I smiled, "So, I saw you were cussing out a cab driver. He wouldn't drive you?"

Alexander frowned and looked down the street in the direction the cab drove off. "He refuses to drive me in such 'dangerous and unfavorable conditions.' Although, I think he just didn't want to because I couldn't cover the fee which he doubled because of 'supply and demand.' We're in f***ing New York! The number of cabs is endless!"

I shook my head in sympathy, "What a connard." Alexander snorted and nodded his wad in agreement.

"Where are you heading? Maybe I can give you a ride?" I asked, gesturing to my car. Alexander smiled although it was tight.

"I need to go to Washington Heights Elementary. My son and Eliza are there."

I frowned, "But I thought you said Philippe was almost 17 now?"

Alex frowned but then realization crossed his face, "Oh no, he doesn't attend the school, and no, I haven't had any more kids since France, but Eliza works there. And the last text Philip sent me said he was going there."

"Ah, d'accord. Well, I think it's close to here. I can drive, and you'll give me directions, oui?"

"Oui, merci, Gilbert," Alexander said, voice filled with relief, as I led him back to my car.

I smiled as I slid into the driver seat before turning to Alexander beside me.

"No problem Alexandre, just lead the way."

* * *

(Eliza POV)

I looked at my phone in dismay, I had at least 4 missed calls from my parents, 2 missed calls from Alexander, 3 missed calls from Angelica, and another missed call from Peggy, along with half that amount of voicemails.

I frown as I listen to the first voicemail from Angelica.

 _"Hey Eliza, it's me, Angelica. I was just calling to see if you're okay. Peggy's with me, and we're both alright. Please call back this number as soon as you can."_

She fell silent, and I'm about to listen to the next voicemail when she adds, _"I love you,"_ her voice was filled with emotion that I knew she was trying to hold back, then she hung up the call.

I was overwhelmed me with relief, happy that my family was okay, but I was still worried about Alexander. Thankfully, my parents live farther upstate, and that area wasn't hit, so they should be fine.

I started to listen to the last voicemail Alexander left, hoping for the best, but also preparing for the worst.

 _"Hi, Eliza, it's Alex. I found a friend with a car that agreed to drive us to a safer place. We're coming to your school, I think you said you were working late today. Tell me if Philip is okay, alright? And I'm fine so don't worry about me. Stay safe, bye."_

I saved with relief. Thank god he's okay, and he's coming to get us! I need to tell Philip.

Just as I was about to go look for him, my son jogged up to me with a smile on his face.

The girl, Theodosia, was beside him.

"Hey, Mom! We managed to open the doors in the Cafeteria that lead outside! We can get out of here to safety!"

I smiled, standing up to hug him, careful of his arm. "That's great Philip! And I just listened to a voicemail from your dad." Philip pulled back to look at me. His face was shocked, but slowly his shock morphed into glee. "Really? What did he say?"

"He said he was coming to the school with a friend who could give us a ride. We can go to the hospital and have them take a look at your arm!"

I turned to Theodosia, "You can come with us if you want? I'm sure Alex's friend won't mind."

Theodosia's cheeks tinted red and looked from me to Philip to me again.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I'll be fine, and I'm sure they'll need help around here with..." She said trying to refuse, her hands moving wildly, trying to convey her point.

"Nonsense! You're coming with us, sweetheart… but you should probably call and tell your parents."

Theodosia still looked unsure, but nodded, "Okay… Thank you, Mrs. Hamilton."

I smiled at her gently, "Just call me Eliza."

I could feel Philip's meaningful gaze on me and glance at him.

After raising him for so long, I knew exactly what he was trying to convey.

His face clearly said, "Mom, I swear to god, don't meddle with this. I really like her, and I don't want you interfering. Seriously, Mom, I know you know what I'm trying to convey so please, please don't."

I just smiled sweetly and winked before turning back to Theodosia.

And I knew he knew that meant, "There's no way I'm not meddling in this."

I put my arm around the young girl and led her out of the middle of the hallway. "Come on, let's go get your things. They should be here soon."

* * *

(Jefferson POV)

"Sir! Please be a little more polite to our guests..." the man that let us in said, starting off strongly but as he continued to talk his voice went down to a whisper.

"Guests? Sammy, what's going on here?"

The man that let us in, Sammy? I guess, blushed and rushed to explain. "S-sorry sir, it's just, these people were caught in the storm and need a place to stay the night. The roads are flooded, and they don't really have anywhere else to go."

The man's glare softened a little as he looked us over. I suppose our clothes were probably a mess, especially Angelica and Peggy.

Not to mention what my hair must look like. It'll take hours to fix it at this point.

He hummed and finally looked back to "Sammy." "Well… I suppose they can stay the night. But I want them out by morning."

Rude. He should be honored to be in my presence, women and men alike would give anything to get my autograph. I should know, I sold it for $250 on eBay, out of boredom once.

Just then, someone started knocking loudly at the doors.

The man in the bathrobe groaned, "Ugh, not more people. Just ignore it." He waved a hand in dismissal and began walking back the way he came.

"But what if it's a person that needs our help? They could be injured!" Peggy tried to reason with the man that only responded with a short, "Don't care."

"But they could be dying!" she pleaded with him.

The guy turned to look at her this time, but only shrugged, "Not my problem. You can't save everyone out there."

She glared at him, but before she could argue any further, the man that let us in spoke up.

"Sir, please. We have room and tons of medical supplies to spare." Sammy said softly.

The man looked at him for a few seconds, the two having a staring contest from across the room. Apparently, Sammy won, because the man in the robe sighed, but relented, "Alright, let them in. But I will not have my house turned into a storm shelter!"

Sammy smiled, "Thank you, sir," and then he opened the left door to a man standing outside.

His fist was raised in a position to knock again and his long black hair was falling out of a messy bun and plastered to his wet face, apparently, it had started to rain after they entered the mansion. The man had a short goatee and dark bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days. He was wearing a brown blazer with a dark gray hoodie underneath, paired with some blue jeans, all of which were soaking wet and totally unfashionable.

He looked slightly familiar, and as I stared at him a while longer, I figured out why. He was the famous New York Times journalist that was notorious for using his job to criticize popular figures. Myself included.

The man seemed a little taken aback at the now opened door, but he quickly recovered and smiled gratefully at Sammy. "Thank you. I was getting drenched out there."

Sammy smiled in return, "You're welcome, would you like to come in?"

His smile brightened as his shoulders sagged in relief. "Yes, that'd be wonderful."

Sammy stepped aside and the man walked through the door, his attention immediately captured by the fancy decor. "Wow, you must be loaded," he said craning his neck to see the chandelier.

Sammy blushed slightly, he seems to do that often, "No, no, this isn't, I'm not—"

"This is my house."

The man looked down, a little surprised to see so many people in the foyer, his eyes quickly scanned over the many faces staring at him before they found the man in the robe who had spoken.

"Oh, uh, thank you then for allowing me to enter your home. I was just wondering if—"

"Yes, you can stay the night, but only for one night. Sammy will show all of you to your rooms."

And then the man finally disappeared behind a wall, probably going to take off his face mask.

It was awkwardly silent for a few seconds as everyone was sizing up the new arrival.

Angelica had an indiscernible look on her face as she gazed at him, Peggy was looking at him with a frown, Maria was avoiding eye contact, and Madison was staring at him with a thoughtful look on his face.

I just couldn't get over how a man who went to work surrounded by fashion column writers would dress so horribly.

"Wait a second… Alex?" Peggy asked hesitantly moving forward to get a better look at his face.

"Yeah, do I know you?" the man, Alex, frowned and examined her a bit more closely before his eyes widened in recognition and surprise. "Wait, Peggy? Is that you?"

Peggy smiled, "Yeah! I'm so glad you're alright!" she exclaimed before running forward to give him a hug which he returned with the same enthusiasm.

"Wait… Alex? Like, Alexander?" Angelica asked, looking at him in shock and slight confusion, which I believe the majority of the room could sympathize with.

Peggy broke the hug and when she looked back at her sister, her eyes were shining with unshed tears of what I assume was happiness.

"Yes! It's Alexander!"

Angelica stood there stunned for a moment, looking between the two.

Peggy looked a little confused at how her sister was reacting, "Ange?"

Angelica shook her head, probably in an attempt to regain her bearings, and walked forward slowly towards Alexander. "I— It's just, we haven't seen each other in forever."

"Well, that's true… excluding that morning I spilled coffee on you." the man said awkwardly.

Peggy gaped at her sister, eyes switching between her and this Alexander swiftly.

"What do you mean?" Peggy asked them in confusion.

"Well, after he divorced Eliza, we just sort of became distant," Angelica responded, trying to avoid her sister's eyes as well as this Alexander's.

Alexander frowned, "Yeah… We just haven't spoken in a while."

Peggy turned to gape at him, "Really? Why? We talk all the time Alex."

There was an awkward silence with the man, Alexander, and Angelica stood awkwardly beside each other as Peggy's confused gaze scrutinized them.

I decided to break the silence.

"Well… while this reunion has been touching, sort of, can someone please explain how you three are related?"

Before any of them could answer me, another knock was heard at the door, and a familiar French accent called out, "Hello? Alexandre? Will they let us stay?"

Everyone turned to see a tall man standing just outside the doorway, peeking his head through to stare at us.

Wait a second… Is that?

"Lafayette?"

"Lafayette!"

Two voices, one being mine and the other being Alexander, spoke at once.

I turned to look at Alexander and he looked back at me, both of us giving the other a confused look.

"Wait, you know him?" We spoke together once again.

"Jefferson?" my brother spoke regaining my attention.

Before I could respond, Alexander rounded on me, "Wait, you're Jefferson? As in Thomas Jefferson?! The actor?! " He sounded both unbelieving and a little repulsed.

I rolled my eyes, "No, I'm Thomas Jefferson the founding father. Yes, of course, I'm the actor! Don't you recognize me?" I added the last part with confusion, my face was pretty well known. Heck, I can't even walk down the street with being jumped by fangirls.

"Well, now I can see the resemblance. However, I don't remember your hair being such a mess," the man replied with a slight smirk.

How dare he!

"Excuse you—"

"Ahem."

We all turned to look at the man, Sammy, who blushed slightly at all the attention suddenly focused on him.

"How about we just introduce ourselves, hmm?" He said, looking around at us.

He smiled, "I'll start, My name is Samuel Seabury, but you can call me Samuel."

I stepped forward to speak next, "Well, I know I already said this, but saying it twice can't hurt. I'm Thomas Jefferson, yes the actor, and no, I won't give out any autographs."

I glance at Angelica, "Well, unless you ask nicely." I say with a smirk and wink.

She rolls her eyes almost in unison with her sister.

"Save it, Thomas." she says dismissively before introducing herself, "I'm Angelica Schuyler, and this is my sister Margarita."

"But if any of you call me that, I'll gut you," Peggy said cheerfully. "Just call me Peggy."

"And I'm James Madison, and I'm his manager," Jemmy says, nodding his head toward me.

I look at Maria, and the others follow my lead. She blushes a little and shifts nervously, her curly hair falling in front of her left eye. "Um, hi, I'm Maria Re–Lewis!" She says the last part quickly before her blush intensifies. "I'm Maria Lewis," she says again, more confidently this time.

I raise an eyebrow but dismiss it as her being shy.

"I'm Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton. You may have heard of me, I'm a pretty popular journalist for the Times." Alexander interjects, pulling attention away from Maria.

Well he sure is cocky, isn't he?

All eyes then turned to Lafayette who gave a nervous smile before introducing himself.

"Bonjour, je-m'appel Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette."

He said this with a smile that widened when he saw the looks of confusion on mostly everyone's faces.

I rolled my eyes, he always does this when introducing himself.

I was surprised to see Alexander do the same, smiling fondly. "Come on Laf, stop confusing them."

Lafayette smirks at him but relents, "Okay, fine. You can call me Lafayette." he said with a wink to Peggy, who blushed slightly but tried to cover it up with a roll of her eyes.

"Wait a second," Angelica spoke up, looking at Lafayette suspiciously.

"Aren't you running for Vice President?"

Lafayette smiled sheepishly, "Oui."

"Wait, but aren't you French?" asked Maria in confusion.

Before Lafayette can answer, I do so instead.

"He's half French, our mom was French. However, he was born in America. He just has the accent and often speaks French because he spent five years there after college and has been speaking a mix of English and French since."

Lafayette glared at me, "Thanks for giving out my life story Thomas."

I smiled cheekily, "No prob."

"Anyway, can we stay here? Cause the others were kinda tired of waiting." Lafayette said meaningfully, looking at Alexander.

"What others?" Angelica asked.

Lafayette opened his mouth to answer when the door opened slightly and a woman's voice was heard.

"Philip! Come back here! We don't know—"

Another voice, this one more like a teenage boy, cut her off. "It'll be fine Mom! I just want to see…"

The boy trailed off when he opened the door to see the foyer, now getting pretty full, occupied by quite a few adults who were now all staring at him.

"Philip! I told you to stay in the car—"

"Philip!" Angelica and Peggy surged forward, both crashing into the boy and almost tipping him over.

"Umph!" Philip managed to say before his face was covered in a curtain of two different types of curly hair.

"Thank god you're alright!"

"I tried calling you! Why didn't you answer?!"

"Where have you been?!"

"Is Eliza alright?"

He was met with an onslaught of questions from the two women as they pulled away from the hug.

"Wait, your arm! What happened?!" Angelica demanded, finally taking notice of the boy's makeshift cast around his arm.

The boy, Philip I suppose, chuckled, "Well, you see there was this tree—"

"Philip Hamilton! I told you not to go in there!" a woman spoke sternly as she pushed her way through the doors.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Angelica and Peggy.

"Sis!"

"Eliza!"

The three rushed forward to embrace each other.

"I'm so glad you're both alright!" Eliza said tearfully, hugging both women tight.

"Uh, guys? Can we stay… oh."

There was another woman at the door, this one was younger, probably a teenager, and had her long black hair in dreadlocks tied up in a bun on the top of her head.

She stood in the doorway, observing the odd scene in front of her with a look of great confusion which I could completely relate to.

"Uh... am I interrupting something?" the girl asked hesitantly, stepping into the now very crowded foyer.

Seriously, how many more unexpected appearances are going to happen today?

"Ahem."

We all turned to look at Seabury once more.

"Well, now that all of you are here, why don't I show you all to the dining room? I'm sure you're hungry after all you've been through," he said giving a sweeping glance around the room.

"I could eat," Peggy said with a shrug as the rest of the room murmured their agreement.

Seabury smiled before clapping his hands together, "Wonderful! Follow me then."

* * *

 **So... that was a lot of rushed introductions. And there's still more to come! Honestly, I have no idea when my next update will be, but I plan to have something up before Thanksgiving. (Remember! Comments are appreciated! I usually write more if I feel people actually read this) Bye for now!**

 **~PJOandHP4life**


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